Griekspoor Saves 5 Match Points in Bastad Tennis Thriller

Picture this: You’re an Italian qualifier ranked 139th in the world, serving for the match against the Dutch No. 1, and you’ve got not one, not two, but FIVE match points. What could possibly go wrong? Well, if you’re Andrea Pellegrino, apparently everything. In what can only be described as the tennis equivalent of fumbling on the one-yard line, Pellegrino managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in spectacular fashion at the Nordea Open in Bastad.

The scene was set perfectly for a David vs. Goliath story. Pellegrino, fresh off qualifying rounds, facing Tallon Griekspoor, the world No. 29 and tournament’s second seed. The Italian had already taken the first set 6-4, playing the kind of tennis that makes you wonder why he’s ranked outside the top 100. Drop shots, changes of pace, variety at the net – it was like watching a chess match where Pellegrino kept finding checkmate opportunities. And then came that fateful second-set tiebreak.

The Five Points That Broke Italian Hearts

Leading 6-3 in the tiebreak, Pellegrino stood on the precipice of the biggest win of his career. Five match points. FIVE. That’s more match points than most players see in a month, let alone a single game. But as Griekspoor himself noted post-match with the understatement of the century: “He didn’t really look too confident on those points.”

The statistics tell a story of mental fortitude that would make a sports psychologist weep with joy. Griekspoor, who had been struggling with Pellegrino’s tactical variety all match, suddenly transformed into a net-rushing machine. He won 16 of 19 points at the net throughout the match, and crucially, he chose the perfect moments to apply pressure during those five match points. It wasn’t just luck – it was the cold-blooded execution of a player who’s saved match points before (ask Aslan Karatsev or Lorenzo Musetti about their nightmares).

The tiebreak scorecard reads like a thriller novel: 3-6, 4-6, 5-6, 6-6, 7-6, 8-6. Four consecutive points won under the most extreme pressure imaginable. The Swedish crowd, presumably neutral but secretly loving the drama, watched as Pellegrino’s body language shifted from confident qualifier to “why is this happening to me?” The Italian’s 26 winners suddenly seemed meaningless as Griekspoor cranked up his aggression, finishing with 38 winners of his own.

What makes this comeback even more impressive is the surface context. Bastad’s clay courts play at a glacial 0.80-0.93 speed rating, making them among the slowest on tour. This should have favored Pellegrino’s variety and touch game, but Griekspoor adapted brilliantly, using the slow conditions to set up his net approaches rather than engaging in baseline wars.

From Late Bloomer to Match Point Houdini

The Dutchman’s journey to becoming a clutch player reads like a motivational LinkedIn post, except it’s actually true. Here’s a guy who didn’t crack the top 100 until age 25, when most tennis prodigies are already contemplating retirement plans. Now 29 and ranked in the world’s top 30, Griekspoor has developed a reputation for performing miracles when his back’s against the wall.

His résumé of comebacks is starting to look like a Marvel movie franchise. Saved two match points against Karatsev in Rotterdam. Saved four against Daniil Medvedev in Dubai (which also happened to be his 100th career win, because why not add extra drama?). And now five against Pellegrino. At this rate, he’ll need a separate Wikipedia page just for his Houdini acts.

But here’s where it gets interesting: Griekspoor claims clay is his favorite surface. Yes, the 6’2” Dutchman with the booming serve and aggressive baseline game prefers the slow, grinding clay over faster courts where his weapons would theoretically be more effective. It’s like a Formula 1 driver saying they prefer go-karts. Yet his 2025 clay court record of 12-7 and recent performances suggest he’s not delusional – just tactically evolved.

The third set was almost anticlimactic. Pellegrino, mentally shattered from the tiebreak collapse, managed just three games as Griekspoor cruised 6-3. The Italian’s 70% first serve percentage from the opening set dropped precipitously, and those crafty drop shots that worked so well early on suddenly found the net with alarming frequency. It’s what happens when you realize you’ve just blown five match points – tennis becomes exponentially harder when your brain won’t stop replaying your mistakes.

The Bigger Picture: Dutch Tennis Rising

While Griekspoor was busy traumatizing Italian qualifiers in Sweden, the broader context of this week’s ATP 250 circuit deserves attention. Three tournaments running simultaneously – Bastad’s clay, Gstaad’s high-altitude clay, and Los Cabos’ hard courts – offer a smorgasbord of playing conditions. It’s the post-Wimbledon shuffle, where players desperately try to remember how to play on surfaces that don’t resemble perfectly manicured lawns.

The Nordea Open itself has become a Dutch stronghold, with three Dutchmen reaching the second round for the first time since Rotterdam 2023. Griekspoor, as the current Dutch No. 1, is leading a tennis revolution in a country more famous for its cycling and speed skating. His upcoming all-Dutch quarter-final against Jesper de Jong promises to be less dramatic (hopefully for everyone’s blood pressure) but equally significant for Netherlands tennis.

The prize money situation adds another layer of irony. Griekspoor guaranteed himself at least €32,970 for reaching the quarters, while Pellegrino walks away with €16,430 – not bad for a qualifier, but probably not much consolation when you’ve just blown five match points on live television. That’s approximately €3,286 per match point squandered, if we’re keeping score.

The Mental Game: Where Matches Are Really Won

Tennis loves to fetishize statistics – first serve percentages, winners, unforced errors – but Griekspoor’s comeback illustrates why the mental game trumps everything. Pellegrino hit 70% first serves in the opening set. He saved 8 of 11 break points throughout the match. He did everything right except the one thing that mattered: believing he deserved to win.

Griekspoor’s post-match admission that Pellegrino “probably deserved the win” is both gracious and revealing. In tennis, deserving has nothing to do with it. You either close out the match or you don’t. The Dutchman’s ability to flip the pressure back onto his opponent – making Pellegrino play those match points rather than going for broke himself – showcases the difference between a top-30 player and a qualifier.

This match will go down as another chapter in tennis’s rich history of spectacular collapses and miraculous comebacks. Somewhere, Guillermo Coria is nodding sympathetically (Google his 2004 French Open final if you want to see match point trauma on an even grander scale). For Griekspoor, it’s another data point in his evolution from late bloomer to legitimate threat. For Pellegrino, it’s a harsh lesson in the brutal mathematics of professional tennis: five match points equals zero if you can’t convert just one.

As the Bastad tournament moves toward its business end, Griekspoor carries the momentum of a player who’s just cheated tennis death. His draw opens up nicely, and with this kind of mental fortitude in his back pocket, who’s betting against the flying Dutchman? Just don’t ask Andrea Pellegrino for his opinion – he’s probably still standing on that baseline, wondering how five became zero.