For many tennis enthusiasts, the double match of the Billie Jean King Cup match between the Netherlands and Spain meant getting to know Arianne Hartono. As far as we are concerned, that was a very pleasant introduction. Together with doubles specialist and veteran Demi Schuurs, she provided a lot of positive energy and fun on the court. The audience is not used to Demi any differently, but that Arianne appears to be cut from the same cloth is a welcome surprise.
The Dutch duo started off energetically against the Spanish Rebeka Masarova and Aliona Bolsova, and managed to make a break in the first set, wich resulted in a 6-4 win. Arianne has powerful groundstrokes with which she can put pressure from behind, but also at the net she knows how to play. That position at the net is for ball wizard Demi Schuurs with her feline reflexes the favorite place on a tennis court. When the score is 40-40, at many international tennis tournaments they play a deciding point. This also goes for the Billie Jean King Cup. When the opponents serve, the receiving side may then choose who hits the return (the so-called ‘receivers choice’). In the Netherlands, that choice always fell on Arianne, with whom Demi was positioned directly at her favorite position at the net.
In the second set, the battle went on evenly and a tie-break had to show whether the win would go to the Netherlands (2-0) or whether it would be 1-1. The latter turned out to be the case. It was striking that while Lesley and Arantxa played a bit more cautiously and less convincingly on the important points in previous matches, Arianne seemed to go the extra mile. Perhaps her playing looks a bit too impetuous, so that she may still make too many unforced errors, but she does not seem to have any fear of failure. In the decisive super tiebreak, the Netherlands quickly fell behind, but managed to fight back through aggressive play. At the (precarious) score of 5-9, Arianne underlined that she has guts. She brought the score back to 6-9 with a daring and very hard hit, after which the audience once again stood behind the Netherlands. In vain, although the next point was also for the Dutch, the following point went to the Spanish duo: 7-10
Arianne’s reaction afterwards was typical of the joy of playing and her enthusiasm: of course it was a pity that they had lost, but she had really enjoyed playing the match! Playing for the Netherlands in a hall with an enthousiastic audience within a team with a great atmosphere, she loved it. Of course Demi was also disappointed by the loss, but she also thanked the audience. Not only we, but undoubtedly also the public would have liked to have awarded this sympathetic and fanatically fighting duo the victory. Let’s hope that will happen during the play-off in November.
YOU CAN SEE THE FULL PICTURES AND SLIDE SHOW. CLICK ON ANY PHOTO AND THE PICTURES ARE SHOWN AT FULL SIZE!
