Belgian doubles specialist Sander Gillé: 'Rotterdam feels like home’

It takes some time to adjust to reality, even in the doubles event of the 52nd edition of the ABN AMRO Open. There are no Dutch tennis players in the semi-finals. This is quite different from previous editions. This time last year, three compatriots had reached the final. Wesley Koolhof, who retired as a professional tennis player in November, even won the doubles title with Croatian Nikola Mektic. With him, the list of past winners felt complete, and he was given a warm farewell on home turf after the award ceremony.

Belgian tennis players have also built up a good reputation in both men's and women's tennis. Sander Gillé is well aware of that. The Hasselt resident has won eight ATP doubles titles and achieved a career-high ranking of 18th in September 2023. This week, Gillé teamed up with Polish player Jan Zielinski in the doubles event. They will face the top-seeded duo Marcelo Arevalo/Mate Pavic in the last four. "Rotterdam is so close and feels more like home,” says Gillé. "I drove here by car, but I will stay in the players’ hotel. This is one of the best indoor tournaments in the world. We are spoiled with so many training courts. Two years ago, I also reached the semi-finals here. These courts suit me. Every match here in Ahoy is tough. In the doubles world, we know each other inside out. Pavic’s game matches up well with mine, but we are playing against the best doubles teams in the world.”

For a long time, the 34-year-old Gillé was paired with his compatriot Joran Vliegen. Now, he has big plans with his new doubles partner, Zielinski, with whom he began competing at the start of the year: "Our goal is to reach the top 8 at the Masters. I think it is possible. It remains to be seen how much time we need to get used to each other. In any case, we started the year with good results, and hopefully, we can maintain this upward trend in Rotterdam.”