Thiemo de Bakker

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

Career

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

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

Early career

File:Thiemodebakker.jpg

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

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

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. 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.

2013: Maiden ATP doubles final

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 debut, retirement, start coaching career

In October 2023, he was selected as the No. 2 ATP player at the 2024 United Cup as part of the Netherlands team. In November 2024, de Bakker announced his retirement from professional tennis and started coaching Jesper de Jong.

ATP career finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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	Template:NsDateTemplate:Ns	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	[[2013 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Rotterdam Open, Netherlands	500 Series	Hard (i)	Template:Flagicon Jesse Huta Galung	Template:Flagicon Robert Lindstedt Template:Flagicon Nenad Zimonjić	7–5, 3–6, [8–10]

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 34 (24–10)

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	Template:NsDateTemplate:Ns	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Template:Dts	Portugal F4, Albufeira	Futures	Hard	Template:Flagicon Morgan Phillips	7–6(7–5), 6–4
Win	2–0	Template:Dts	Portugal F6, Ponta Delgada	Futures	Hard	Template:Flagicon David Cañudas-Fernández	6–2, 6–4
Loss	2–1	Template:Dts	Israel F4, Ramat HaSharon	Futures	Hard	Template:Flagicon Andreas Haider-Maurer	4–6, 4–6
Loss	2–2	Template:Dts	Netherlands F5, Enschede	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Nick van der Meer	7–6(8–6), 6–7(3–7), 2–6
Loss	2–3	Template:Dts	Portugal F5, Lagos	Futures	Hard	Template:Flagicon Rui Machado	4–6, 3–6
Win	3–3	Template:Dts	Netherlands F1, Apeldoorn	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Stéphane Robert	7–6(7–2), 6–1
Win	4–3	Template:Dts	Netherlands F2, Alkmaar	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Melle van Gemerden	4–6, 6–1, 6–2
Loss	4–4	[[2009 Città di Caltanissetta – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Caltanissetta, Italy	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Jesse Huta Galung	2–6, 3–6
Win	5–4	[[2009 Tampere Open – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Peter Luczak	6–4, 7–6(9–7)
Win	6–4	[[2009 Concurso Internacional de Tenis – Vigo – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Vigo, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Thierry Ascione	6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Win	7–4	[[2009 Concurso Internacional de Tenis – San Sebastián – Singles|Template:Dts]]	San Sebastián, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Filip Krajinović	6–2, 6–3
Win	8–4	[[2009 Braşov Challenger – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Braşov, Romania	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Pere Riba	7–5, 6–0
Loss	8–5	Template:Dts	Spain F13, Getxo	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Andrea Arnaboldi	6–3, 6–7(4–7), 4–6
Win	9–5	Template:Dts	Netherlands F1, Zuidwolde	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Nick van der Meer	6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Win	10–5	Template:Dts	Netherlands F2, Alkmaar	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Gerald Melzer	6–4, 7–5
Loss	10–6	Template:Dts	Netherlands F3, Breda	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Zhang Ze	4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win	11–6	[[2012 SDA Tennis Open – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Bercuit, Belgium	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Victor Hănescu	6–4, 3–6, 7–5
Win	12–6	[[2012 TEAN International – Men's singles|Template:Dts]]	Alphen, Netherlands	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Simon Greul	6–4, 6–2
Loss	12–7	[[2012 Campeonato Internacional de Tênis do Estado do Pará – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Belém, Brazil	Challenger	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ricardo Hocevar	6–7(1–7), 6–7(4–7)
Win	13–7	[[2012 Copa San Juan Gobierno – Singles|Template:Dts]]	San Juan, Argentina	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Martín Alund	6–2, 3–6, 6–2
Loss	13–8	[[2013 Cachantún Cup – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Santiago, Chile	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Facundo Bagnis	6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7)
Win	14–8	[[2014 Cachantún Cup – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Santiago, Chile	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon James Duckworth	4–6, 7–6(12–10), 6–1
Loss	14–9	[[2014 Marburg Open – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Marburg, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Horacio Zeballos	6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	14–10	[[2015 BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Bordeaux, France	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Thanasi Kokkinakis	4–6, 6–1, 6–7(5–7)
Win	15–10	[[2015 Las Vegas Challenger – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Las Vegas, USA	Challenger	Hard	Template:Flagicon Grega Žemlja	3–6, 6–3, 6–1
Win	16–10	[[2015 Monterrey Challenger – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Monterrey, Mexico	Challenger	Hard	Template:Flagicon Víctor Estrella Burgos	7–6(7–1), 4–6, 6–3
Win	17–10	Template:Dts	Netherlands F1, Alkmaar	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Maxime Chazal	6–3, 7–5
Win	18–10	Template:Dts	Netherlands F3, Middelburg	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Botic van de Zandschulp	6–3, 6–4
Win	19–10	Template:Dts	Netherlands F6, Rotterdam	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Gijs Brouwer	6–2, 6–3
Win	20–10	Template:Dts	Egypt F29, Sharm El Sheikh	Futures	Hard	Template:Flagicon Gijs Brouwer	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Win	21–10	Template:Dts	Italy F2, Santa Margherita di Pula	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Attila Balázs	6–2, 5–7, 6–1
Win	22–10	[[2018 The Hague Open – Singles|Template:Dts]]	Scheveningen, Netherlands	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Yannick Maden	6–2, 6–1
Win	23–10	Template:Dts	M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Template:Flagicon Lucas Gerch	6–2, 6–4
Win	24–10	Template:Dts	M15 Huy, Belgium	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Template:Flagicon Sidané Pontjodikromo	6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 18 (13–5)

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	Template:NsDateTemplate:Ns	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Template:Dts	Netherlands F7, Almere	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Antal van der Duim	Template:Flagicon Jesse Huta Galung Template:Flagicon Igor Sijsling	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Template:Dts	Great Britain F10, Edinburgh	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Pierre-Ludovic Duclos	Template:Flagicon Olivier Charroin Template:Flagicon Ludwig Pellerin	4–6, 6–1, 2–6
Loss	1–2	Template:Dts	Italy F15, Parma	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Igor Sijsling	Template:Flagicon Alberto Brizzi Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Petrazzuolo	6–1, 4–6, 3–6
Win	2–2	Template:Dts	Netherlands F4, Vlaardingen	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Igor Sijsling	Template:Flagicon Danny Spierenburg Template:Flagicon Serinho Wijdenbosch	6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Win	3–2	[[2009 Concurso Internacional de Tenis – Vigo – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Vigo, Spain	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Raemon Sluiter	Template:Flagicon Pedro Clar-Rosselló Template:Flagicon Albert Ramos	7–5, 6–2
Win	4–2	[[2011 TEAN International – Men's doubles|Template:Dts]]	Alphen, Netherlands	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Antal van der Duim	Template:Flagicon Matwé Middelkoop Template:Flagicon Igor Sijsling	6–4, 6–7(4–7), [10–6]
Win	5–2	Template:Dts	Netherlands F1, Zuidwolde	Futures	Clay	Template:Flagicon Antal van der Duim	Template:Flagicon Patrik Rosenholm Template:Flagicon Michael Ryderstedt	6–4, 6–0
Win	6–2	[[2013 Peugeot Tennis Cup – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon André Sá	Template:Flagicon Marcelo Demoliner Template:Flagicon João Souza	6–3, 6–2
Win	7–2	[[2015 BNP Paribas Primrose Bordeaux – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Bordeaux, France	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Robin Haase	Template:Flagicon Lucas Pouille Template:Flagicon Sergiy Stakhovsky	6–3, 7–5
Loss	7–3	[[2015 Morocco Tennis Tour – Casablanca II – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Casablanca, Morocco	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Stephan Fransen	Template:Flagicon Laurynas Grigelis Template:Flagicon Mohamed Safwat	4–6, 3–6
Win	8–3	[[2015 Monterrey Challenger – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Monterrey, Mexico	Challenger	Hard	Template:Flagicon Mark Vervoort	Template:Flagicon Paolo Lorenzi Template:Flagicon Fernando Romboli	w/o
Win	9–3	Template:Dts	Egypt F1, Sharm El Sheikh	Futures	Hard	Template:Flagicon Yannick Mertens	Template:Flagicon Roberto Marcora Template:Flagicon Artem Smirnov	7–5, 6–2
Win	10–3	Template:Dts	Egypt F2, Sharm El Sheikh	Futures	Hard	Template:Flagicon Michiel de Krom	Template:Flagicon Moez Echargui Template:Flagicon Anis Ghorbel	6–3, 6–4
Win	11–3	[[2019 Verrazzano Open – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Sophia Antipolis, France	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Robin Haase	Template:Flagicon Enzo Couacaud Template:Flagicon Tristan Lamasine	6–4, 6–4
Loss	11–4	[[2019 Prosperita Open – Doubles|Template:Dts]]	Ostrava, Czech Republic	Challenger	Clay	Template:Flagicon Tallon Griekspoor	Template:Flagicon Luca Margaroli Template:Flagicon Filip Polášek	4–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Win	12–4	Template:Dts	M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Template:Flagicon Clement Tabur	Template:Flagicon Jacopo Berrettini Template:Flagicon Alessandro Petrone	2–6, 6–1, [10–7]
Loss	12–5	Template:Dts	M25 Palma Nova, Spain	World Tennis Tour	Clay	Template:Flagicon Mats Hermans	Template:Flagicon Stefano Travaglia Template:Flagicon Alexander Weis	5–7, 3–6
Win	13–5	Template:Dts	M15 Jakarta, Indonesia	World Tennis Tour	Hard	Template:Flagicon Justin Barki	Template:Flagicon Siddhant Banthia Template:Flagicon Nitin Kumar Sinha	6–4, 6–3

Singles performance timeline

Template:Performance key 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

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

External links

• Template:ATP
• Template:ITF
• Template:First word Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Davis CupTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Official website
• De Bakker Recent Match Results
• De Bakker World Ranking History