# Thiemo de Bakker

Thiemo Carsten Jannick de Bakker (born 19 September 1988) is a Dutch former professional tennis 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

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 selection and retirement

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 | 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
### 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 | 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)

* 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

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
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 | Not Held | 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 | NH | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | NH | 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 | 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 | 70–92 |
| Year-end ranking | 464 | 444 | 249 | 96 | 43 | 223 | 124 | 146 | 144 | 99 | 257 | 372 | 242 | 43% | 43% |

## Wins over top 10 players

| # | 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 |