Botic van de Zandschulp, according to Dutch tennis fans, is the most well-known player in the Netherlands at the moment. The Dutch tennis player has never played in India, but it appears that they have accepted him. In the quarterfinal match, he defeated qualifier Maximilian Marterer by a score of points to the cheers and whistles of a large number of Indian fans. Three Dutch fans also made the decision to travel to India when they saw their fellow Dutchman’s name on the news. As Botic won the match 6-4, 6-2, an elderly couple unfurled the Dutch flag in front of him.
The 27-year-old had previously competed in this Pune competition. After losing to Rohan Bopanna on Centre Court on Wednesday, he played his first singles match in the Round of 16 and defeated qualifier Flavio Cobolli 7-5, 6-4. He had been eliminated already in the first round.
According to reports in the media, Botic is rumored to be playing here. We wanted to see him, so he won! He did a fantastic job.” “We are really happy for him and for ourselves,” declares Jose Durville, who currently lives in Pune for work.
Botic is a peaceful town. He sauntered into the court as the announcer called his name for the quarterfinal match against qualifier Maximilian Marterer, waved to the Pune crowd, many of whom were there to support the second seed, and then accidentally walked toward the umpire and his opponent. Marterer was a qualifier for the tournament. Marterer was a requirement. Marterer had to be there. Both his play and his fans, who, in contrast to other fans, enjoyed Botic’s dominance over his German opponent quietly in their seats, display the same calm demeanor. No fist pumps. There are no “Botic” chants all over the world. Number 35, who was getting ready to serve from the same end, was sitting right next to them.
When Jose inquired whether their quiet happiness suggested that they believed Botic would win easily, he smiled. It never achieves its intended conclusion. You need to be at ease at first. As composed as he is, so were we. It’s possible that we knew he would get it. As a result, we were cheering for him.
She ran out of words, however, when she tried to describe the aspect of Botic’s calm demeanor that had impressed her the most throughout the game. Maarten Durville, her husband and the managing director of GKN Fokker Elmo India in Pune for more than three years, joined in to end the conversation. He does a great job on the court. He remained calm, collected, and composed throughout the match. Marterer used a lot of hard hitting to start the match, but he just kept going, and the score stayed the same, so he won.
The 55-year-old tennis fan’s criticism of Marterer’s aggressive start and strategy to score fewer points was justified. But Botic played flawlessly, saved every break point, and put more pressure on the best player in the world. Botic used the break to win the first set, but the other team defeated him in the ninth game, 159 to 1. In the second set, Marterer was broken twice and never recovered.
Botic is just two wins away from winning his first ATP title after top seed Marin Cilic withdrew from the Tata Open earlier in the evening due to a knee injury. The Tata Open is currently led by Botic. He won’t be the only Dutch competitor in the semifinals, though. After Cilic withdrew, Tallon Griekspoor was given a bye into the semifinals on the other side of the draw. The semifinals might have been all Dutch if Aslan Karatsev hadn’t chosen to knock out Tim van Rijthoven, a 21-year-old who lost in the Round of 16.
“There are a lot of talented players at the moment. Tennis courts can be found in nearly every village. Jose said, referring to the Dutch tennis culture, “It is a big sport like soccer and hockey.” Botic is probably the most well-known tennis player in the country. Richard Krajicek is the only Dutchman to win a Grand Slam in men’s singles since his victory at Wimbledon in 1996.
“He is a big star there,” Jose stated.
He is doing incredibly well. Since a long time ago, he has been our best player. Botic is still the favorite, even though Rijthoven and Griekspoor also gave good performances. There has been a slight shortage of players recently. Maarten went on to say, “I hope Botic keeps up this pace and gets to the main 10 soon.” Would they have also traveled to Australia for the first Grand Slam of the season? Maarten jokingly stated, “Australia is a little too far from here, and this was just around the corner.”