Thiemo Carsten Jannick de Bakker (born 19 September 1988) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He has an ATP career-high ranking in singles of World No. 40 achieved on 19 July 2010.

Thiemo de Bakker
Thiemo de Bakker at the 2015 Wimbledon Qualifying
Country (sports) Netherlands
Residence's-Gravenzande, Netherlands
Born (1988-09-19) 19 September 1988 (age 36)
The Hague, Netherlands
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro2006
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachRemko de Rijke and Huib Troost
Prize money$ 1,841,293
Singles
Career record70–94
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 40 (19 July 2010)
Current rankingNo. 700 (8 April 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2010, 2011, 2016)
French Open3R (2010)
Wimbledon3R (2010)
US Open3R (2010)
Doubles
Career record18–29
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 115 (10 February 2014)
Current rankingNo. 776 (15 April 2024)
Last updated on: 15 April 2024.

Career

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Considered a top prospect of his generation as a junior, he also made an impressive breakthrough as a young pro, reaching a career-high ranking in July 2010, before his career became largely marked by injuries, inconsistencies and a decline in his performances which coincided with the death of his father in 2011.

Junior career

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De Bakker finished 2006 as the ITF Junior Champion, after having won the Boys' Singles title at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships.

Early career

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Serving during the Ricoh NTK 2006 in Amsterdam

De Bakker received a wildcard into the ATP Amersfoort event in July 2006 and defeated top 100 and French Open Quarterfinalist Julien Benneteau in the 1st round, winning in straight sets 6–3, 6–3. In the second round he faced Frenchman Marc Gicquel and lost in three sets. As he was the reigning Junior Champion, De Bakker received a wildcard into the main draw of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, where he would lose in five tight sets to qualifier Wayne Arthurs.

In October 2006, De Bakker won his first senior international title in a Futures event in Albufeira, Portugal, where he beat Briton Morgan Phillips in the final. This was followed by another win in a Futures tournament two weeks later in San Miguel, Portugal. He reached a career high ATP ranking of 228 on 25 August 2008.

2009

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On 22 March 2009, he finished as runner-up in the Caltanissetta Challenger tournament to compatriot Jesse Huta Galung, losing in straight sets. On 5 May 2009, as a qualifier and ranked 236, he defeated the 5th seed Rainer Schüttler in the first round of the BMW Open in Münich in straight sets, before losing to former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt. De Bakker would follow this up in the 2009 Ordina Open, by qualifying for the tournament and losing in the second round to Rainer Schüttler, after defeating Björn Phau in three tight sets. De Bakker hit a rich vein of form in August, winning four Challenger tournaments, and bumping his ranking from 256 to 122, in the span of one month. His form continued in Davis Cup competition, by beating World Number 13 Gaël Monfils in 4 sets, and putting the Netherlands up 1–0 on France, but lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four tight sets. De Bakker would finish the year ranked 96th.

2010

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De Bakker started 2010 in much the same way he finished 2009. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 Aircel Chennai Open, after defeating the eighth seed, Rajeev Ram, and compatriot Robin Haase, he lost to Janko Tipsarević. This would boost his ranking to number 81 in the world, and gave him a high enough ranking to receive direct entrance into the 2010 Australian Open men's singles. In his first Grand Slam in three years, the Dutchman was paired up against the 6th seed Andy Roddick. After losing the first set, de Bakker lost the second and third set by one break each.

De Bakker's next tournament was his first ever Masters event, the 2010 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. He started off winning his opening match against Marcos Daniel in straight sets, before advancing to the third round after beating 30th seed Janko Tipsarević where he retired just after five games of play at 3–2 first set. In the third round, he fell to eventual finalist Andy Roddick. De Bakker played his second Masters event two weeks later the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, winning his first round match against Rajeev Ram in straight sets, before falling again to the eventual finalist, this time Tomáš Berdych with the same scoreline as in Indian Wells.

De Bakker's next Masters event was the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, where he had to qualify this time. After defeating Eduardo Schwank, de Bakker lost to the five-time reigning champion, and world number two, Rafael Nadal. De Bakker lost this match in less than an hour, winning one game in a two sets loss. He then appeared at the 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell. He took out World No.58 Alejandro Falla, followed by a victory over world No.92 Daniel Gimeno-Traver. In the round of 16, he scored a win over World No.16 (and former World #1) Juan Carlos Ferrero. Before the match, Ferrero had an 18–2 record on clay for the year. He followed it up with his best career victory, with a superb performance to take out World No.10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, his first win over a top 10 player. However, his run came to an end against World No.8 Robin Söderling in the semifinals. Thiemo rose to a career high World No.50 as a result of his semifinal appearance there.

Following his performance at Barcelona, de Bakker received a Special Exempt to enter the main draw of Rome Masters where he faced Viktor Troicki in the first round, but retired due to a groin injury.[1] At the 2010 French Open, he made a third round showing where he lost to an injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets.

At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, de Bakker advanced to the third round of the men's singles tournament after defeating Colombian Santiago Giraldo in a hotly contested five sets win, followed by a more comprehensive defeat of an exhausted John Isner, the winner of the longest tennis match in history, which finished on its third day of play on 24 June, 6–0, 6–3, 6–2. This made Bakker the first, and one of only two players in history to bagel Isner (the other being Jannik Sinner in 2021), before losing in the third round to Paul-Henri Mathieu of France. De Bakker also participated in the men's doubles tournament, in which his partner was his Dutch colleague Haase. After defeating Viktor Troicki and Christopher Kas in the first round, they lost to the Ratiwatana twins, who entered the main tournament as lucky losers, in 4 sets. As a result, he reached the top 40 in singles on 19 July 2010.

At the 2010 Pilot Pen Tennis, Thiemo reached his second ATP semi-final. Sergiy Stakhovsky defeated him in two sets.[2]

2013: Maiden ATP doubles final

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He reached his maiden doubles final at the Rotterdam Open with Jesse Huta Galung where he lost to Nenad Zimonjić and Robert Lindstedt.

2024: United Cup selection

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In October 2023, he was selected as the No. 2 ATP player at the 2024 United Cup as part of the Netherlands team.[3]

ATP career finals

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Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (0–0)
Indoor (0–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Feb 2013 Rotterdam Open, Netherlands 500 Series Hard (i)   Jesse Huta Galung   Robert Lindstedt
  Nenad Zimonjić
7–5, 3–6, [8–10]

Challenger and Futures finals

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Singles: 34 (24–10)

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Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (11–5)
ITF Futures Tour (13–5)
Titles by surface
Hard (5–3)
Clay (19–7)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Oct 2006 Portugal F4, Albufeira Futures Hard   Morgan Phillips 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Win 2–0 Oct 2006 Portugal F6, Ponta Delgada Futures Hard   David Cañudas-Fernández 6–2, 6–4
Loss 2–1 Nov 2006 Israel F4, Ramat HaSharon Futures Hard   Andreas Haider-Maurer 4–6, 4–6
Loss 2–2 Sep 2007 Netherlands F5, Enschede Futures Clay   Nick van der Meer 7–6(8–6), 6–7(3–7), 2–6
Loss 2–3 Mar 2008 Portugal F5, Lagos Futures Hard   Rui Machado 4–6, 3–6
Win 3–3 Jun 2008 Netherlands F1, Apeldoorn Futures Clay   Stéphane Robert 7–6(7–2), 6–1
Win 4–3 Jun 2008 Netherlands F2, Alkmaar Futures Clay   Melle van Gemerden 4–6, 6–1, 6–2
Loss 4–4 Mar 2009 Caltanissetta, Italy Challenger Clay   Jesse Huta Galung 2–6, 3–6
Win 5–4 Aug 2009 Tampere, Finland Challenger Clay   Peter Luczak 6–4, 7–6(9–7)
Win 6–4 Aug 2009 Vigo, Spain Challenger Clay   Thierry Ascione 6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Win 7–4 Aug 2009 San Sebastián, Spain Challenger Clay   Filip Krajinović 6–2, 6–3
Win 8–4 Sep 2009 Braşov, Romania Challenger Clay   Pere Riba 7–5, 6–0
Loss 8–5 May 2012 Spain F13, Getxo Futures Clay   Andrea Arnaboldi 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 4–6
Win 9–5 Jun 2012 Netherlands F1, Zuidwolde Futures Clay   Nick van der Meer 6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Win 10–5 Jun 2012 Netherlands F2, Alkmaar Futures Clay   Gerald Melzer 6–4, 7–5
Loss 10–6 Jul 2012 Netherlands F3, Breda Futures Clay   Zhang Ze 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win 11–6 Jul 2012 Bercuit, Belgium Challenger Clay   Victor Hănescu 6–4, 3–6, 7–5
Win 12–6 Sep 2012 Alphen, Netherlands Challenger Clay   Simon Greul 6–4, 6–2
Loss 12–7 Oct 2012 Belém, Brazil Challenger Hard   Ricardo Hocevar 6–7(1–7), 6–7(4–7)
Win 13–7 Oct 2012 San Juan, Argentina Challenger Clay   Martín Alund 6–2, 3–6, 6–2
Loss 13–8 Mar 2013 Santiago, Chile Challenger Clay   Facundo Bagnis 6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7)
Win 14–8 Apr 2014 Santiago, Chile Challenger Clay   James Duckworth 4–6, 7–6(12–10), 6–1
Loss 14–9 Jun 2014 Marburg, Germany Challenger Clay   Horacio Zeballos 6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Loss 14–10 May 2015 Bordeaux, France Challenger Clay   Thanasi Kokkinakis 4–6, 6–1, 6–7(5–7)
Win 15–10 Oct 2015 Las Vegas, USA Challenger Hard   Grega Žemlja 3–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win 16–10 Oct 2015 Monterrey, Mexico Challenger Hard   Víctor Estrella Burgos 7–6(7–1), 4–6, 6–3
Win 17–10 Jun 2017 Netherlands F1, Alkmaar Futures Clay   Maxime Chazal 6–3, 7–5
Win 18–10 Jul 2017 Netherlands F3, Middelburg Futures Clay   Botic van de Zandschulp 6–3, 6–4
Win 19–10 Aug 2017 Netherlands F6, Rotterdam Futures Clay   Gijs Brouwer 6–2, 6–3
Win 20–10 Oct 2017 Egypt F29, Sharm El Sheikh Futures Hard   Gijs Brouwer 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Win 21–10 Mar 2018 Italy F2, Santa Margherita di Pula Futures Clay   Attila Balázs 6–2, 5–7, 6–1
Win 22–10 Jul 2018 Scheveningen, Netherlands Challenger Clay   Yannick Maden 6–2, 6–1
Win 23–10 Sep 2019 M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy World Tennis Tour Clay   Lucas Gerch 6–2, 6–4
Win 24–10 Aug 2023 M15 Huy, Belgium World Tennis Tour Clay   Sidané Pontjodikromo 6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 18 (13–5)

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Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (6–2)
ITF Futures Tour (7–3)
Titles by surface
Hard (4–0)
Clay (9–5)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Sep 2006 Netherlands F7, Almere Futures Clay   Antal van der Duim   Jesse Huta Galung
  Igor Sijsling
4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss 1–1 May 2007 Great Britain F10, Edinburgh Futures Clay   Pierre-Ludovic Duclos   Olivier Charroin
  Ludwig Pellerin
4–6, 6–1, 2–6
Loss 1–2 May 2007 Italy F15, Parma Futures Clay   Igor Sijsling   Alberto Brizzi
  Giancarlo Petrazzuolo
6–1, 4–6, 3–6
Win 2–2 Aug 2007 Netherlands F4, Vlaardingen Futures Clay   Igor Sijsling   Danny Spierenburg
  Serinho Wijdenbosch
6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Win 3–2 Aug 2009 Vigo, Spain Challenger Clay   Raemon Sluiter   Pedro Clar-Rosselló
  Albert Ramos
7–5, 6–2
Win 4–2 Sep 2011 Alphen, Netherlands Challenger Clay   Antal van der Duim   Matwé Middelkoop
  Igor Sijsling
6–4, 6–7(4–7), [10–6]
Win 5–2 Jun 2012 Netherlands F1, Zuidwolde Futures Clay   Antal van der Duim   Patrik Rosenholm
  Michael Ryderstedt
6–4, 6–0
Win 6–2 Aug 2013 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Challenger Clay   André Sá   Marcelo Demoliner
  João Souza
6–3, 6–2
Win 7–2 May 2015 Bordeaux, France Challenger Clay   Robin Haase   Lucas Pouille
  Sergiy Stakhovsky
6–3, 7–5
Loss 7–3 Oct 2015 Casablanca, Morocco Challenger Clay   Stephan Fransen   Laurynas Grigelis
  Mohamed Safwat
4–6, 3–6
Win 8–3 Oct 2015 Monterrey, Mexico Challenger Hard   Mark Vervoort   Paolo Lorenzi
  Fernando Romboli
w/o
Win 9–3 Jan 2018 Egypt F1, Sharm El Sheikh Futures Hard   Yannick Mertens   Roberto Marcora
  Artem Smirnov
7–5, 6–2
Win 10–3 Jan 2018 Egypt F2, Sharm El Sheikh Futures Hard   Michiel de Krom   Moez Echargui
  Anis Ghorbel
6–3, 6–4
Win 11–3 Apr 2019 Sophia Antipolis, France Challenger Clay   Robin Haase   Enzo Couacaud
  Tristan Lamasine
6–4, 6–4
Loss 11–4 May 2019 Ostrava, Czech Republic Challenger Clay   Tallon Griekspoor   Luca Margaroli
  Filip Polášek
4–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Win 12–4 Sep 2019 M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy World Tennis Tour Clay   Clement Tabur   Jacopo Berrettini
  Alessandro Petrone
2–6, 6–1, [10–7]
Loss 12–5 Mar 2023 M25 Palma Nova, Spain World Tennis Tour Clay   Mats Hermans   Stefano Travaglia
  Alexander Weis
5–7, 3–6
Win 13–5 Jun 2023 M15 Jakarta, Indonesia World Tennis Tour Hard   Justin Barki   Siddhant Banthia
  Nitin Kumar Sinha
6–4, 6–3

Singles performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Current till 2018 Rotterdam Open.

Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 1R 1R Q3 Q2 Q3 Q2 1R A A A 0 / 3 0–3
French Open A A A Q2 3R 1R A 1R Q1 Q2 1R A A Q2 0 / 4 2–4
Wimbledon A 1R A A 3R A A 1R A Q2 Q1 A A Q1 0 / 3 2–3
US Open A A A A 3R 1R Q1 1R Q1 Q1 Q2 A Q1 A 0 / 3 2–3
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 6–4 0–3 0–0 0–3 0–0 0–0 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 13 6–13
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A 3R 1R A A Q1 1R 2R A A 0 / 4 3–4
Miami Open A A A A 2R A A 1R 3R Q2 A A A 0 / 3 3–3
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A 2R A A Q2 A Q2 Q1 A A 0 / 1 1–1
Madrid Open A A A A A 2R A A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–1
Italian Open A A A A 1R 1R A Q1 A A A A A 0 / 2 0–2
Canadian Open A A A A 2R A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–1
Cincinnati Masters A A A A 2R A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–1
Shanghai Masters Not Held A 2R A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–1
Paris Masters A A A A 1R A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 0–1
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 7–8 1–3 0–0 0–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0 / 15 11–15
National representation
Summer Olympics NH A Not Held A Not Held A NH 0 / 0 0–0
Davis Cup A A PO 1R Z1 Z1 PO PO 1R PO Z1 PO 1R 0 / 2 16–13
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 3–1 1–3 2–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 0–2 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–0 0 / 2 16–13
Career statistics
Titles / Finals 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0
Overall win–loss 1–1 1–4 4–2 3–6 28–24 3–11 3–3 10–10 6–8 3–7 6–13 1–2 1–1 70–92
Year-end ranking 464 444 249 96 43 223 124 146 144 99 257 372 242 43%

Wins over top 10 players

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# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score TdB Rank
2010
1.   Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 10 Barcelona, Spain Clay QF 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 67
2.   Fernando Verdasco 9 Shanghai, China Hard 1R 7–6(7–4), 7–5 47
2013
3.   Tomáš Berdych 6 Båstad, Sweden Clay QF 7–5, 7–5 104

References

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  1. ^ Viktor Troicki – Thiemo De Bakker Match report Archived 10 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Tennis – ATP World Tour – New Haven Friday – Stakhovsky Out-Serves de Bakker For Final Berth". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  3. ^ "After Years Of Injury Struggles, De Bakker Slowly On His Way Back". 28 December 2023.
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Awards
Preceded by ITF Junior World Champion
2006
Succeeded by