'I just do my own thing': Boogaard juggernaut continues at Wimbledon
It has been an exceptional year for Thijs Boogaard of the Netherlands, improved immeasurably no doubt by his favourite football team Feyenoord lifting the Eredivisie title in May and winning their first trophy since 2017.
Boogaard first flickered on the ITF radar in January when he triumphed at a sixth consecutive junior title at J300 San Jose in Costa Rica, becoming the youngest player in history to top the podium at an ITF J300 event.
The likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Gael Monfils and Carlos Alcaraz have all won J300s during their formative years but nobody has done so at a younger age than Boogaard, who was aged just 14 years and six months at the time.
The Boogaard juggernaut has continued to gather momentum and only last month he became the fifth youngest player in history to win a professional men's match when he defeated fellow countryman Stian Klaassen at M15 Alkmaar.
The 15-year-old now has a Wimbledon match-win to his name after digging deep to overcome Australia’s Pavle Marinkov in the opening round of the 2023 Junior Championships – but more about that later.
His SW19 success is the latest highlight of a progressive campaign which has brought an increasing level of interest and fame to an aspiring player making his way in the game. Boogaard, however, would appear to be taking everything in his stride.
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“It has been a good year and I have enjoyed myself,” Boogaard, who is currently ranked No. 40 in the ITF World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings, tells itftennis.com. “I have done the best I can, and we will see what the rest of the year brings, but I am excited.
“At the start of the year, I didn’t really have any expectations, it was more a case of seeing what happens and going match by match, but when a few good results come you start to believe that you can do better and better.
“I don’t mind the attention I am getting. I like it and at the same time it doesn’t bother me in any way. I just do my own thing on the court and play tennis, which is what I really want to do. Outside things, I don’t really care about.”
Boogaard looked to be cruising to victory against Marinkov after taking the opening set 6-1 but was pegged back in the second and was starring down the barrel of defeat before prevailing 6-1 3-6 7-5. He will play Japan's Rei Sakamoto in the second round.
“That was special,” said Boogaard. “Your first Wimbledon – playing on grass and being with the pros – is always special and winning makes it even more special. It was a tough day and I had to deal with a few problems, but I managed to fight it out.
“I won ugly and winning ugly is always a good skill to have.”
A full list of results from the 2023 Junior Championships, Wimbledon is available here.