In a packed finals weekend at the Dutch Junior Open in Castricum – due to the tropical storm on Wednesday, the quarter-finals still had to be completed – Rose Marie Nijkamp narrowly missed out on the title in the girls’ singles, but she did achieve a nice victory together with Joy de Zeeuw. the girls’ doubles.
Seventeen-year-old Nijkamp was virtually untouchable in her four matches until the final, as the German list leader Julia Stusek (6-1, 6-3) and the fourth-seeded American Kaitlyn Rolls (6-1, 6-0) also experienced. the quarter- and semi-finals respectively. This made Nijkamp the first Dutch finalist in the girls’ singles since 2007 and, after three matches on Saturday, she had another busy day ahead with two finals.
While the clouds were gathering menacingly above the clay courts of TC Bakkum, Nijkamp started off strongly in the final against the Italian Noemi Basiletti, who had defeated Joy de Zeeuw in the quarter-finals 6-2, 6-2 a day earlier. Our compatriot took a 2-0 lead, but saw Basiletti break away and win five games in a row. Nijkamp came back to 5-4, but had to leave the set to the Italian. Despite an early break in set two, Nijkamp saw the match slip out of her hands, partly due to a number of double faults. Basiletti came out on top with 6-4, 6-3 and took her best title (ITF J200) so far. After her tournament victory at the ITF J100 in The Hague (Leeuwenbergh), it was another great week for Nijkamp on Dutch soil, which became even better when she won the doubles with Joy de Zeeuw.
The Dutch duo took off against the Czech duo Nela Jandova/Marie Slamenikova and, after an exciting second set, they were able to raise their arms at the TC Bakkum tennis park: 6-0, 7-6 (5).
There was another final in our country for Frenchman Theo Papalamis (17), but just like in the ITF J100 Leeuwenbergh, things went wrong in that final battle after a flawless campaign. The Bulgarian Alexander Vasilev won the final 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) and thus took revenge for his defeat against Papalamis in the semi-finals of ‘Leeuwenbergh’.
Wildcards
Pieter de Lange (17) was one of the five Dutch wild card holders in the boys’ singles and made good on that election with a place in the quarter-finals. In a nice match he lost 7-5, 6-4 to the Pole Oscar Grzegorzewski, who later won the boys’ doubles match with the Argentinian Romeo Arcuschin. The third round was the end point for sixteen-year-old Hidde Schoenmakers, also admitted with a wild card, and Manvydas Balciunas.
Click here for schedules and results of the Dutch Junior Open in Castricum.
Agenda
After the Dutch Junior Open, the oldest junior tournament in the Netherlands, the ITF Junior caravan continues in our country. This week the Holiday Inn ITF J60 Leeuwenbergh 2023 is scheduled to take place in The Hague. Click here for an overview of the international tournaments on Dutch soil.
Image above: Girls’ singles finalists Rose Marie Nijkamp (left) and Noemi Basiletti. Photo: Wim Peperkamp.
Image below: Rose Marie Nijkamp and Joy de Zeeuw (right) after the girls’ doubles final against Nela Jandova and Marie Slamenikova. Photo: Wim Peperkamp.
