Great start for Jiske Griffioen

In her impressive career, Jiske Griffioen has put her mark in all corners of the globe with world class victories. A triumph at the ABN AMRO Open is now also in sight, and she could add yet another trophy to her collection. The experienced Amsterdam native didn’t give one single game away to nevertheless the talented Lizzy de Greef from Alphen-aan-den Rijn.

Yesterday was a first in Rotterdam Ahoy, with a wheelchair tournament for women. 'I heard from the men that Rotterdam is so nice,’ said Griffioen, who is currently ranked world number four. 'Actually, they called this tournament the Fifth Grand Slam and that's no lie. Everything here breathes tennis. It’s a fantastic tournament to have in our home country.’

In today’s semi-final, Jiske Griffioen will take on Yui Kamiji who beat British Cornelia Oosthuizen (6-2, 6-0). The Japanese has already beaten Griffioen three times in the past year : 'It will be very tough,’ says 37-year-old Griffioen. 'I've been seeing a lot of her lately. But I’ve added things to my game and hopefully I can hurt her. We've both been playing each other for years on the tour, but we've never partnered in doubles. The fact that it will happen for the first time in Rotterdam is also great fun!’

Maikel Scheffers withdrew from the singles match on Wednesday due to illness, but in the doubles he was back on court with his partner Tom Egberink. The duo locked a victory over Guilhem Laget and Nico Langmann : 6-2, 6-3. ’ I'm very glad that Maikel is back. I'd rather he'd played his singles match, but now it makes no difference. Maikel is not one hundred percent yet, but hopefully he can sleep well and eat. I wanted to put in a little extra work than usual today, but that's just me, and for the moment it's nice.’ shared Egberink.