Dutch tennis stars deliver second round upsets at Indian Wells

Botic van de Zandschulp (X)

The biggest story in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 series event was the fact that two players from the Netherlands came away with massive victories. On Friday, Tallon Griekspoor of Haarlem defeated the number one seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, and on Saturday, Botic van de Zandschulp of Wageningen defeated 24-time major champion and number six seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Griekspoor had the advantage over Zverev when it came to aces. Griekspoor had 10 aces, compared to six for Zverev. Griekspoor, who is ranked 43rd in the world, beat Zverev for the second time in eight matches. Griekspoor’s first win was in the second round of Rotterdam in 2023, where Griekspoor won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Van de Zandschulp had four aces compared to zero for Djokovic. van de Zandschulp also broke Djokovic five times in eight opportunities. Djokovic won their only prior meeting. That was in the second round of the 2022 Astana Open in Kazakhstan, which Djokovic won rather easily, 6-3, 6-1.

Next up for Griekspoor is the 29th seed, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France. This is their first meeting ever head to head.

Next up for Van de Zandschulp, is the 25th seed, Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina. Van de Zandschulp has never played Cerundolo at the ATP level either.

Griekspoor’s best career result at the ATP Masters Series level was reaching the fourth round of Madrid in 2024. Van De Zandschulp’s best career result at the ATP Masters Series level was reaching the fourth round of the 2023 Miami Open. The third round spot is significant for van de Zandschulp is noteworthy when you consider the fact he could not get through qualifying in  Monte Carlo and the Paris Indoor last year.

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