Status: Winner of Miami Masters Series doubles title with Aisam Qureshi.
DOB: August 25, 1981 In: Curacao
Ht: 6-1 Wt: 180
First Tennis Memory: “Watching my brother Jamil play when I was maybe five years old. We had a club next to our house, growing up.”
Tennis Inspirations: “My brother, to begin with. Then, once I could play a little bit better, I used to love watching Stefan Edberg play. I loved watching Jonas Bjorkman play – I tried to emulate my game style to his. And then, of course, Pete Sampras. I got to practice with him when I went to UCLA for three years, so that was great.”
Last Book Read: “Think And Grow Rich by Napolean Hill.”
Greatest Sports Moment(s): “I’ve had a few. Different at different times. Davis Cup was big for me – I beat Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka there playing for Holland (with Robin Haase). That was a big one. I beat the Bryans in Madrid, the best team ever, that was a big one. Winning Masters Series Miami (2013). Then a few other achievements that I had, that I value.”
Most Painful Moment: “Probably at the ABM AMRO tournament, in the qualifying rounds – because I got a wildcard – the first wildcard that I’ve ever gotten into a tournament – it was into the Rotterdam tournament qualifying. I beat Michael Russell in the first round then I lost to Peter Wessels in the qualifying round – to play Jonas Bjorkman in the first round. And I lost having two match points in that match.”
First Famous Tennis Player You Met Or Encountered: “The first real one that I got to know a little bit, spend some time with was Pete Sampras. Towards the end of his career, I’d go over to his house and hit or he’d come over to UCLA and we would hit. It’s just one of those things that I don’t know if he would remember that but it stands out for me.”
Closest Tennis Friends: “The good thing about me is I speak four languages (English, Dutch, Spanish and Papiemento), so I have American friends, European friends, South American friends. But some of my closest are definitely the Brazilians friends. I grew up with them. I’m from the Caribbean. There aren’t too many players from the Caribbean. Definitely, the Brazilian guys are my closest friends on the tour.”
Favorite Tournament(s): “I have a thing for Sweden. It would have to be the Swedish tournaments, Bastad or Stockholm. Those are the ones that make me feel the most at home and are great tournaments run by great tournament directors – Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman does one of them. Just great tournaments all around. All the players on the tour love those tournaments.”
Funniest Player Encountered: “I don’t know, there aren’t that many funny funny guys on the tour anymore. I think Novak (Djokovic) is a pretty funny guy. I don’t know. And I’m one of these guys who has a good time with everyone. I don’t know if there’s a funny funny guy. We have a few Polish guys on the tour but they have horrible jokes always. They think they’re funny [smiles].”
Embarrassing Tennis Memory: “I’ve had my phone ring once during a match. But it wasn’t that big of a stage so I just ran over and turn it off. That was in Bastad, my mind was in so many places and in so many different things that I left my phone on. (Who called?) I didn’t check actually, it was a flip phone, I just turned it off.”
Strangest Match: “I think the French Open a few years back playing Dlouhy and Paes in the first round, we had about four, five or six rain delays. It was ridiculous. It kept raining. We kept going back, in and out. And last year, playing the Wimbledon champions Freddy Nielsen and Johnny Marray. We stopped that match about four times as well.”
Current Car: “I don’t have a car. I rent. I live in Miami. I’m not here that often but I don’t have a car so I rent every time. That way I can throw my sweaty self, clothes, everything into the rental car and not worry about it [smiles].”
Favorite Sport Outside Tennis: “I love basketball and baseball.”
Three Athletes You Like To Watch & Follow: “LeBron James right now is at the top of the list. Trout in baseball. And baseball players from Curacao – Andrw Jones and Roger Bernadina, centerfielder for the Washington Nationals.”
Funny Tennis Memory: “No, except for sometimes you play so badly and I just have a giggle at myself. You get some of those days sometimes where you can’t make a volley, you try really hard and you just can’t make it. You just gotta laugh at yourself a little bit.”
People Qualities Most Admired: “I like people that are considerate. That’s the best quality that I can see in someone, someone that is considerate.”
Big win was beating Federer in Davis Cup
2 comments
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Henk · April 6, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Nice Scoop! Cool guy and he and Robin Haase just sealed Netherlands’ Davis Cup victory over Romania 3-0. Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling were the suprise doubles finalists at the Australian Open this year. The 3 of them now made it possible for the Netherlands to try and return to the World Group. Proud to be Dutch (also) today! 😉
Scoop Malinowski · April 6, 2013 at 10:01 pm
Henk congrats! Glad you liked this. Rojer is a super nice guy as you can tell from this interview. I saw Sisling in Newport last year, he was on the public courts practicing after he was eliminated. Ever since then, I notice his name keeps popping up. Haase is a very good player, I would not be surprised if he knocked off a really good player and cracked the top 25. He’s made a great comeback from the second knee surgery in 09 that made him miss 10 months and drop to almost 500 in the rankings.