Niels' trophy case has received another substantial upgrade. He held firm at the US Open and returned from New York with two top prizes. It is Niels' second consecutive grandslam victory after success on the hallowed turf of Wimbledon in July.
Niels flew to The Big Apple with a clearly defined mission: to win both the doubles and singles tournament. That in itself is not very surprising, as Niels caught the plane to JFK Airport as number one in the world. But of course, that American Dream still had to become a reality.
Mentally grown
It was not exactly a walk in the park. In the singles semifinals, Niels' doubles partner Guy Sasson awaited. After a 6-3 win in the first set, Niels trailed for a long time in set two. His Israeli opponent even took a 1-4 lead. "Fortunately, I was still able to turn it around," Niels explained. "I became a lot stronger mentally and just kept going, without letting balls that just didn't fall quite right take me out of my game. That's how I was eventually able to turn the deficit into a 6-4 set win." With that, as he did earlier this year at the grand slams in Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon, he reached the final again.
Saturday the final awaited against compatriot Sam Schroeder, not exactly an unknown. The first set went 6-1 to Niels. In the second set Niels fell behind again, apparently he liked the tactics from the semifinals. On a 2-4 score he called it a day and on his second match point he scored: 7-5. It was the second time Niels was able to celebrate, as he also won the doubles final with Guy Sasson on Friday.
Plan de champagne
The final point was the start of a series of celebratory activities, Niels - who returned to Helmond on Monday afternoon - looks back. "To start with, of course, the doping control, after which I spoke to the media." From these "musts" it is a small step to the champagne moment: at The Garden, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the cork went off the Moët champagne. And this time Niels turned it into a little tasting. "After winning the doubles final, I said to Guy, 'You drink, I have to play another final tomorrow.' It tasted good, you know!"
A lot of drinking was obviously not in the cards for a sportsman like Niels, also because he still had to drive. In a game change of the women's final between Sabalenka and Anisimova, Niels was allowed to enter the center court to show his trophy to the audience. "That was super cool! There were 24,000 people in the stands."
Lead on Carlos Alcaraz
A meet and greet with the Spanish number one in the ATP ranking, Carlos Alcaraz - who also won the US Open - also followed in the players' restaurant. "Carlos saw me and came to congratulate me. He told me he liked that I had won. I actually thought so myself. I'm one ahead of Carlos, by the way. He has now won six grand slams in his career, I have won seven. Not that I'm particularly concerned with that, and he may not be either, but it's fun. If at the end of my career I have as many titles as Carlos, I'll sign up for that right now!"
The final phase of the tennis year
This week for Niels is all about coping with his jet lag, reeling from the success and picking up training. Because the year is far from over. At the end of September he will play the Sardinia Open, and not much later the French Riviera Open in Nice. Also nice would be a win at the Masters in November in China. So keep encouraging him, live or via social media. He likes it!
