(2023) Griekspoor keeps orange fever alive

For the second year in a row, Libéma Open has a Dutch finalist in men’s singles. Tallon Griekspoor will try to succeed Tim van Rijthoven as champion on Sunday. With a 6-4 7-5 win over Emil Ruusuvuori, Griekspoor reached the title match.

Griekspoor has been impressing on the Brabant grass all week and shot out of the starting blocks against 24-year-old Ruusuvuori with a break in the opening game. The remaining three break points in the set were for the Finn, but they were cleared each time by the crowd favourite.

In the final phase of the second set, the important points were for Griekspoor. He survived a set point in his own service game at 4-5 with a brilliant backhand volley. A game later, Ruusuvuori reached 30-15, but then three points slipped through his fingers with errors of his own. This produced the only break of the second set.

Griekspoor did not look back and with a series of strong services, including an ace on his first match point, he convincingly ended the match.

In the battle for the winner’s bracket, Jordan Thompson awaits as an opponent on Sunday. The Australian was already in the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2019 and reached the final match again by beating his young compatriot Rinky Hijikata: 7-6(5) 6-3.