My Point
Wesley Koolhof: Farewell to tennis
The Dutchman writes a My Point story about his performance during the Nitto ATP Finals, his final ATP Tour event
November 12, 2024
Last year at Wimbledon I experienced as close to euphoria as I think possible in tennis. I was playing doubles with Neal Skupski, from Great Britain. It has been a dream of mine to play on Center Court and it was amazing to have the opportunity to compete on such a beautiful stage in a championship match.
Lifting the trophy in front of Neal’s home fans at The Championships made it even more special.
Winning a Grand Slam title was one of the biggest things I wanted to achieve in my career. In 2020, I won the Nitto ATP Finals with Nikola Mektic. I am a six-time ATP Masters 1000 champion. In 2022, I became the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings and was part of the year-end team. Finally, I was able to name myself a list of main titles.
There was a lot of media attention at home and other things related to capturing the trophy. I remember going to the Wimbledon Ball on Sunday evening, thinking how few players get the chance to do something like that. It was just an unbelievable feeling.
For the next three weeks I was at home with my fiancee, former WTA player Julia Goerges, and I really enjoyed that time. Less than two months after winning Wimbledon I was sitting in my hotel room in Cincinnati thinking, ‘Okay, what am I going to do with my life now?’
I had accomplished everything I wanted to achieve, and winning the title on the holy grass was actually the last thing I could do. One day I would like to start a family. You see a lot of doubles boys with their children, or they need to leave their children because there is a tournament to play. I can’t see myself doing that.
It wasn’t that long after that moment that I decided that the 2024 season would be the last of my career.
I am very happy that I was able to make the Nitto ATP Finals once and while I will compete against the Netherlands in the Davis Cup, this is my last tournament.
Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2023/07/15/17/21/koolhof-skupski- wimbledon-2023-saturday-trophy-shot.jpg?w=100%25″>
2023 Wimbledon champions Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski. Photo: Getty Images.
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I started playing tennis like most kids, hitting the wall at the age of three. My parents, Monique and Jurrie, loved board games and took me to a club called Columbae in Duiven, my hometown.
I also played football – my father was a professional player, which made it easy to take up the sport. But there was something about the personality of tennis that I really liked. I started studying at four o’clock and it’s too early for local talent scouts to choose me to practice with better players.
Growing up, I looked up to Andre Agassi. I loved the way he played. He had an amazing first game, he was coming back strong and his tempo in the circles was very high. That style appealed to me.
That was my game when I was young. When I was playing singles, I would only hit forehands on the backhand, a bit like Rafael Nadal, running around the backhand every time and only hitting the forehands. I was good at the net, but not comfortable during my singles career.
Andre wasn’t known for his best volleys, either. He only came to the net to shake hands, actually. Maybe it’s weird that my idol played that way and I had my success playing in pairs. My parents took me to the tournament in Rotterdam every year, but I wasn’t one of those kids chasing autographs and trying to meet the players. I wanted to watch tennis, no matter who was playing.
My dream was to play once in the center field in Rotterdam, try to be like the players I watch. A full circle came earlier this year when I won the title there.
When I was young, I only thought about single people, not two people. But the longer you play, the more you dream, and the more you try to challenge yourself and make it farther.
In singles, I reached a career high of World No. 462 in 2013. After two years, I gave up that dream of becoming a top singles player and focused my attention on doubles, not knowing how that would turn out.
I knew how to play it. I liked it. I thought I had a pretty good eye for it. I had anticipatory skills and knew what was happening. I always played both because I loved doubles, and I thought it was good for my singles, to improve my net.
In 2019, my career started to take off. I played some more with Stefanos Tsitsipas, which helped my ranking a lot, and we made my first Masters 1000 final in Miami. I made two more Masters 1000 finals that year with Robin Haase and even though I didn’t win either of those finals, it changed my life.
Since then it has been a dream, to win tournaments like the Nitto ATP Finals with Nikola – and we hope to do it again this year. That event was our last together before this season.
Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/11/11/18/58/koolhof -mektic- 2022-nitto-atp-finals.jpg”>
2020 Nitto ATP Finals Champions Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic. Photo: Ella Ling/ATP Tour.
But thankfully I was able to have more success. Neal and I started our partnership in 2022 and it has gone through the roof. I was No. 1 at the end of the year after winning Paris and to finish at the end of the year with the No. 1 team was very special.
When I decided to retire I wanted to go to the Olympics, the Davis Cup and try to achieve as much glory as possible. I’m still happy with the decision and we’ve had a great start to the year.
I would also like to thank Julia, who I think many people will know, especially tennis fans. We met in 2019 at the wedding of another WTA player, Kiki Bertens. He reached the Top 10 and beat the best players in the world, so he has a lot of experience at the highest levels of tennis.
Since I met Julia, my career has been growing. He helped me make decisions about my tennis and most importantly he is an amazing person. You played a big role in making my dreams come true.
We are getting married at the end of the year, which is a great way to end things. This is the end of my career, and the beginning of a new life. After we get married and take our honeymoon, I’m looking forward to relaxing at home together and just enjoying life.
I don’t know what will happen next, but after taking a break I would like to stay in tennis. In this world, you meet a lot of people, and tennis has always been a part of my life. I’m open to other things besides tennis, too. I’ll just wait and see what comes around the corner, and you’ll see me somewhere.
In the meantime, I enjoyed the last ride at the Nitto ATP Finals.
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