Tallon Griekspoor pulled off one of the first big upsets of the week in Rotterdam today, rallying from 6-2, 5-2 down and saving two match points to beat Aslan Karatsev, 2-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (0), and in doing so he kept a perfect record intact.
The Dutchman is now 3-0 against Top 15 players in Rotterdam.
Griekspoor won all three of those matches as a wild card into his home event, and came back from a set down in all of them, too.
2018 Rotterdam 1st Rd:
No. 259-ranked WC Griekspoor d. No. 13-ranked Wawrinka, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
2019 Rotterdam 1st Rd:
No. 211-ranked WC Griekspoor d. No. 11-ranked Khachanov, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
2022 Rotterdam 1st Rd:
No. 62-ranked WC Griekspoor d. No. 14-ranked Karatsev, 2-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (0)
He’s now 3-2 in his career against Top 20 players overall, having fallen to two Top 10 players at the Grand Slams last year: No. 6 Alexander Zverev in the first round of Wimbledon and No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the second round of the US Open.
The 25-year-old from Haarlem had an historic year on the Challenger tour last year, winning eight titles—the most anyone’s ever won in a single season on the Challenger tour, which began in 1978. The previous record was six.
He left the US Open ranked No. 133 and now, six months later, he’s No. 62.