Botic van de Zandschulp started the new tennis season with a victory. The world number fifty won the first round of the ATP tournament held in Hong Kong against Japanese Shintaro Mochizuki with scores of 7:5 and 6:1.
“My goals this year? “To stay fit all year round and play in all the tournaments I want to participate in,” Van de Zandschulp said afterwards. He will take part in the Auckland tournament next week before the start of the Australian Open on January 14.
For the Dutchman, 2023 was a year that would soon be forgotten. He missed match points for his first ATP title in Munich, then got injured, lost his place in the top 50 in the world rankings and replaced coach Sven Groeneveld with Swede Johan Örtegren.
Nine matches in a row
In Hong Kong, Van de Zandschulp still had work to do in the first set against 20-year-old Mochizuki, ranked No. 137 in the world. He fell behind twice due to the break, but gradually started to play better and won nine consecutive matches 3:5.
He will face world number 183 Shang Juncheng in the last 16 rounds.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
