In recent years more and more Dutch tennis players have made the choice to continue their careers in America! A choice that offers many tennis players enormous opportunities to realize their dream: to play professional tennis. For many, going to America has been the ideal step for their development and they were extremely satisfied with the team and the top facilities.
At the beginning of this year we wrote a blog about the top 20 college tennis players from the Netherlands among the men and women of that moment according to UTR. Did you know that the current top 10 consists entirely of Slamstox athletes? We are of course very proud of this! View the impressive list of our own toppers below.
10. Jordy Visser
UTR-rating: 11.56
Universiteit: New Mexico State University
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, WAC Conference
Jordy left for Mexico State University in 2019 to focus on a marketing education in addition to tennis! As a Freshman, Jordy showed his university what they’ve accomplished by racking up some amazing streaks of wins. This year Jordy managed to grow enormously and thus earned a place in our top 10. We once wrote a university spotlight about his university, check it out here.
Jordy has been named 2022 ALL-WAC Honorable Mention, ALL-Tournament Team and twice WAC Doubles Team of the week. A big college tennis career already.
9. Bastiaan Weststrate
UTR-rating: 12.01
Universiteit: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, Big West Conference
Last year Bastiaan managed to improve his UTR a lot, he also climbs from place 13 to place 9 in our rankings! Bastiaan’s qualities are mainly reflected in doubles, he is always on spot 1 and 2. But in singles he also managed to achieve great victories. California Poly’s college tennis team is one of the strongest in the country, and Bastiaan has more than deserved to be in the mix.
Last year, Bastiaan also received a Second team AII Conference Honors. Bastiaan also has family in this top 10 further on, so read on quickly and find out who that is.
8. Stian Klaassen
UTR-rating: 12.06
Universiteit: University of San Diego
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, West Coast Conference
In 2021, Stian left for America to join the University of San Diego tennis team! He has now started his Sophomore year. A fun fact about Stian is that before he left for America, he was already living in Canada, so English wasn’t a problem for him. He has a lot of potential, he was already Dutch champion under 16 in 2019! His UTR proves that Stian is doing well: At the beginning of this year he had a UTR of 10.61, with a UTR of 12.06 Stian is now really one of the top Dutch college tennis players. Keep up the good work!
Stian is a fast and smart tennis player with an aggressive style. He likes to go to the net to finish a point. Last year he achieved a number of victories against considerably better opponents. Stian is currently in his second year, which means he still has plenty of time to add some nice wins to his roster.
7. Stijn Paardekooper
UTR-rating: 12.16
Universiteit: Utah State University
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, Mountain West Conference
Although Stijn fell just outside our top 10 last year, he is now in 7th place! It proves that Stijn is doing a great job with his great transfer from Saint Bonaventure University to Utah State University, where he started as a Junior this year. He ends his career with Saint Bonaventure with an impressive singles record of 23-10! He was additionally named to the Atlantic 10 ALL-Conference first team in the 2021-2022 season.
We are convinced that Stijn will once again deliver a top performance at his new university!
6. Jip van Assendelft
UTR-rating: 12.43
Universiteit: University of Oklahoma
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, Big 12 Conference
Jip only left for Oklahoma last summer and is already in our top 10, a great achievement! He can also call himself the best Dutch freshman of the moment!
He has already played quite a few ITF matches where he also achieved great victories. He even won matches against top 700 ATP players and already had a true ATP ranking in doubles before he left for America. wow! Jip has only just arrived in America and we are therefore convinced that he will achieve many great performances in the coming years. Go Yip! Go Sooners!
5. Fons van Sambeek
UTR-rating: 12.92
Universiteit: North Carolina State University
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, Atlantic Coast Conference
Just like last year, Fons is again in 5th place, but with a higher UTR rating! Fons has now started his Sophomore year and will continue on the right track for the time being. Fons currently has 15 ATP points in doubles and also managed to get his first ATP point in singles last week, nice job Fons!
Last year, Fons set an 18-8 record in the singles and a 16-4 record in the doubles! A good score as a freshman at your new university. By the way, read all about his university in our NC State University Sportlight. Go Wolfpack!
4. Stijn Slump
UTR-rating: 13.07
Universiteit: Middle Tennessee State University
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, Third Straight Conference
Stijn once left for Tennessee as a freshman in 2018 and is already in his Graduate year after that. He has been on this list for a number of years, where he is again at number four this time. Stijn already achieved quite a few successes in his first year, for example he was named C-USA Freshman of the Year.
Stijn is a strong player and a permanent fixture at his university. He also belonged to the All-C-USA First Team in both singles and doubles last season. He was also twice named player of the week that season. Nice job Stijn! Reason enough to stick with it for another year.
3. Lodewijk Weststrate
UTR-rating: 13.24
Universiteit: University of Southern California
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, Pac-12 Conference
We told you earlier that Bastiaan’s brother is also in this list and that Lodewijk can also play tennis, as his ranking shows. Just like last year, he is back in third place!
Prior to his adventure, Lodewijk already won the necessary ATP matches against better ranked players. It is therefore not surprising that Lodewijk received the necessary awards for his performance last season. He earned the ALL-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and secured two key team wins for the Trojans.
He is doing very well at this absolute top university and is a fixed value. Keep it up Lodewijk!
2. Daniel de Jonge
UTR-rating: 13.38
Universiteit: Pepperdine University
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, West Coast Conference
Like Stijn, Daniel also continues to obtain his Master’s degree in America. Daniel was number 1 on our list last year, but that doesn’t mean he’s had a bad season! Certainly not even; he earned the ITA Regional mention, was the Most Improved Senior, again earned the WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Gold) 2021, 2022 and was again elected Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete!
We wish Daniel all success in the Spring Season and with obtaining his master’s degree! Want to know more about Pepperdine University? Then quickly check this article.
1. Sander Jong
UTR-rating: 13.52
Universiteit: Texas Christian University
Division/Conference: NCAA division I, Big 12 Conference
Sander can currently call himself the best Dutch college tennis player based on UTR! He has been in Texas since 2019 and has already delivered several top performances there. He was this week in the final at the ITA National Fall Championship together with Lui Maxted. They unfortunately failed to beat Ohio State but still achieved a historic achievement for them and for the University. In any case, we are proud of you Sander!
The facilities on the TCU campus are also absolutely top-notch, we understand that Sander likes it here. There are no fewer than 27 tennis courts, and they also have an indoor tennis hall! In this University Spotlight you can see where to find Sander every day!
So you can see that the Dutch tennis athletes of Slamstox are doing very well! We are very proud of them, but of course also of all our other Slamstox tennis players! Would you also like to go to America to combine your studies and sports? Fill out this form and we will be happy to help you!
