For Niels, winning the Australian Open on January 31 completes the quartet. He has now achieved his coveted Golden Slam: winning all four Grand Slams on the calendar. Niels dedicated the title to Hans Jurgen Striek, his coach who passed away last year. They even took a lap of honor "together."
Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open have all been on Niels' list of achievements for a long time. Paralympic gold too. But success down under had not yet materialized. So that was the goal again this year. But there was a challenge: more tennis players wanted to win the trophy.
Winning as a tribute
These were not easy months for Niels. On September 21, his coach and good friend Hans Jurgen Striek passed away. Naturally, this was very difficult for the Helmond native. All the more reason for Niels to be determined to complete his mission: winning the Golden Slam. As a tribute to "boss" HJ, a golden guy.
Niels, ranked number one, got off to a good start in the tournament. His opponents in the singles, Finn Broadbent, Gonzalo Enrique Lazarte, and Guy Sasson, respectively, had little to offer against Niels. He lost only four games in these three matches. But the final promised to be no walkover or walk in the park. His opponent was Sam Schröder, his former doubles partner and the world number two.
Suddenly, enormous tension
Niels didn't feel any tension throughout the entire tournament. Until he was about to enter the court for the final. "I was super relaxed throughout the entire tournament," he recalls. "But suddenly I became very nervous. Honestly, I've never felt so much tension before a match. Not even before the Paralympic final in Paris. My coach Alex Gaspa kept joking around to make me laugh and take away the tension. I still don't understand where that tension came from, but anyway."
Niels won the first set 6-3. Sam started stronger in the second set. However, Niels came back and even led 5-4. "I thought to myself: now I'm going to finish it off. This is it! Well, it turned out to be my worst game ever. I hit balls out of the stadium and I think they're still looking for them."
Lap of honor with HJ
A tiebreak was needed. At 7-6, it was finally over. Sam had no answer to Niels' forehand. The images were broadcast around the world – which was handy for a tournament in Australia: after the decisive point, Niels was overcome with emotion. "I just lay down on the floor, because otherwise I probably would have fallen out of my chair. I was so happy, so relieved, but also very emotional. I have now won everything I wanted to win. That was always the goal of Hans Jurgen and me."
It was Niels' first major tournament without Hans Jurgen by his side. Yet he was there in spirit. Niels drove around the court with a black-and-white photo of HJ and Niels together. Then, through the microphone, in English: "HJ and I had one goal: to finish playing tennis. That has now been achieved. This one's for you, boss!"
New goals
Oh, if you're a wheelchair tennis player and you're hoping that Niels will retire now that he's won everything, we have some bad news for you. He plans to continue playing for a while longer. Regarding his updated goals: "I would also like to win the Calendar Slam. That means winning all the Grand Slams in a single year. And in any case, I just want to win as many titles as possible. So no, the wheelchair tennis world won't be seeing the last of me anytime soon."