Maikel Scheffers: 'Continue to show courage'

There was a cry of joy and relief when Maikel Scheffers reached the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO Open in the Wheelchair Arena. The Den Bosch resident defeated the Spaniard Ruben Caverzaschi after a battle that lasted over two hours: 6-0, 1-6, 7-6 (5). "I played really well in that first set, maybe only made two mistakes in the whole set. After that, everything went his way. In the third set, I even faced a 5-2 deficit. I kept showing courage, and that resulted in a victory."

The 42-year-old Scheffers has consistently reached the last eight in Rotterdam since 2020. However, a difficult task awaits him when he meets the tournament’s top seed, Spaniard Martin De La Puente. "I always take it round by round, and against him, I won’t hold back and play tennis freely. I like playing here. It's always nice that friends, sponsors, and acquaintances come to watch."

Maikel Scheffers is paired in doubles with the talented Maarten ter Hofte, who was eliminated in singles last night. The Dutchmen will be in action today in the last match in the Wheelchair Arena. Before that, four singles matches in the women's tournament will take place from 11:00 onwards, with a Dutch player in action in all matches. Aniek van Koot and Jiske Griffioen are among the top seeds. Lizzy De Greef and Jinte Bos complete the quartet. "Finally, not against Jiske in the first round," joked De Greef, who had previously been eliminated by Griffioen in the last two editions.