Dutch tennis has had successful eras in the past. Most recently Richard Krajeck was Wimbledon champion in the 1990s and Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis where dominant on the doubles tour. But since all these players retired and started to play in senior events there has been something of a void in talent coming through from the Benelux nation. In the women’s game a similar story was unveiled when the likes of Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, Kristie Boogert and Manon Bollegraf retired – though Schultz-McCarthy is trying to make a comeback at the age of 36! However, this year sees a new talent on the ATP tour, a player that I think can have a big future in the game – certainly his junior results would support this potential.

Robin Haase was ranked as high as No.3 in junior rankings and had a fantastic few tournaments in 2005 on the junior tour. He reached the semi-final in the Australian Open junior event and went one better in England, when the Dutch star reached the final of junior Wimbledon. Doing so well on hard courts and grass bodes well for a player who rates clay as his favourite surface! Watch for him at Roland Garros.

Starting 2007 at a lowly 167, Haase has risen over 80 places to stand at No.83 as of last week, only four places below his best ever ranking. In 2007 he played a mixture of challenger tournaments and ATP events to give him experience at the top level. He showed some glimpses of just what he can do with a semi-final spot in his home tournament in Amersfoort on clay, still his best ever performance.  He had season victories over Agustin Calleri, Michael Llodra and Ivo Karlovic. His biggest win of the year was at the Master Series event in Canada late in 2007. Haase caused a big upset by knocking out world top 10 player Tomas Berdych. The Dutch youngster was in superb form and showed his liking for the big events, especially after his junior success. I feel his big serve will be one of his weapons on the tour and, at only 20 years of age, the man from The Hague is only going to get stronger and more powerful.

‘I feel his big serve will be one of his weapons on the tour and, at only 20 years of age, the man from The Hague is only going to get stronger and more powerful.’

2008 has been very successful for Haase. He has reached three quarter-finals already – in Chennai, Zagreb and again on home soil in Rotterdam. He is improving all the time and getting more and more confidence in every tournament he plays. He beat the big serving Ivan Ljubicic at the Australian Open in January and also has an array of wins over top players in 2008, such as Andy Murray and Marcos Baghdatis. With the likes of Murray being in such good form this year it just shows the strides that Haase has made on the ATP tour.

With his favoured clay court tournaments just around the corner in Europe starting in April, I predict that Haase can move inside the top 50 by the end of the clay court season and then, with Wimbledon fast approaching, Haase will have fond memories of his junior days at the All England Club. He is certainly a threat to the top players and I think he has the game to reach the top 20 very soon and even make a dent on the top 10 players in the world over the next couple of years.