Erasmus University Rotterdam is the champion of the tennis tournament on clay courts of Mladost Sports Park. With Stefan de Jong and Bart van der Berg as their top players, the Dutch team snatched the championship with 2-1 in the finals against the University of Innsbruck, a game where they had to overcome not only their opponents, but also two natural obstacles, the dark and the rain. The bronze medal was awarded to the Warsaw Kozminski University, who won 2-1 against Istanbul Aydin University in the match for third place.
After the convincing performances throughout the tournament, which had been interrupted by the defeat against Innsbruck in the semi/finals, the Polish aces ensured they would not be going home empty-handed. The team from Rotterdam, led by longtime friends De Jon and Van den Berg, also had their hands full. The Dutch pair knows each other very well, and they have crowned their collaboration at the Zagreb tournament, reaching the greatest tennis success in the history of their University.
‘This is our first title in tennis, and of course, we are very proud of it,’ said Van den Berg, adding that it was not only satisfied with the victory, but with everything else in Zagreb, praising the organization, accommodation and food during his stay at the Games.
‘We did not exactly expect a gold, we really wanted to win a medal, but the gold one surprised us. This is why this is unbelievable for us, we are very happy,’ added Van den Berg, while his mate from the winning pair also praised the organization, comparing it to the Olympics.
On his way to the title, De Jong had problems with a blister on his hand in the early stage of the tournament, causing him to play only singles at the beginning of the competition. As the week went by, he felt better and better, helping Erasmus come back home happier than everyone else who had competed in the men’s competition at Mladost. The great advantage of the Dutch team was their consistency.
‘The majority of the universities have very good first players, and maybe not so good second or third players. The two of us are approximately equally highly ranked, it is not so important who plays first, and who second at another match,’ said De Jong, sharing his recipe for success at a tournament like the Zagreb one.
The gold medal winners were also given the first Croatian history novel. Van den Berg made a short commentary:
‘I am very honoured to get the first Croatian history novel. When I have time, this is the book I will definitely read,’ His teammate De Jong added:
‘I still haven’t found the time to study the novel we were given, but it is definitely interesting to get a chance to learn about Croatian history and literature as part of Croatian culture.’
Results
