After Years Of Injury Struggles, De Bakker Slowly On His Way Back

Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour

Thiemo de Bakker was a mainstay on the ATP Tour. The former No. 40 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings played some of the biggest stars in tennis history, including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

That was a distant memory in recent times. Between September 2019 and January 2023, the Dutchman did not play a tournament. Now World No. 689, De Bakker is back on a big stage this week at the United Cup, where he is the second male singles player for the Netherlands.

“They did unbelievable in the past few years and also to see Jules [Rojer] still playing well in doubles [has been great],” De Bakker said of his countrymen, led by Tallon Griekspoor. “For me I enjoy watching these guys and for the country, it's only been great the past few years. So hopefully they keep on making steps.”

It is unlikely De Bakker will compete in Sydney — the No. 1 singles players on the ATP and WTA sides play one another. But the 35-year-old is making steps of his own.

In November 2019, De Bakker underwent surgery on his left knee, which he hurt sliding into the corner during practice. In September 2020, inflammation meant another surgery to clean out his knee again. One year later, he had surgery on his lower back to deal with a hernia, which he said he suffered “probably compensating for the knee”.

Last January, more than 12 years removed from his career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking, De Bakker made his return to professional tennis. Instead of playing on the biggest courts in the world, he battled in 18 ITF World Tennis Tour events in countries ranging from Indonesia to Tunisia.

“At the beginning I was pretty much done with it. I think it was during the first knee, because I got surgery three months later, I was a bit done with it. Then [the pandemic] came also,” De Bakker said. “After the surgery, started to miss it again, started enjoying it, started to watch a bit more again. So for me since then, I always wanted to play again. But it took a few years longer.”

For a few years leading to his injury struggles, De Bakker was not enjoying his time on court. Now that it is back, he is keen to take advantage of it.

“For me I prefer to end it on that note, whatever I'm going to reach or not,” De Bakker said. “[I wanted] to enjoy it again to feel a tennis player again and then we'll see.”

Wesley Koolhof, the Netherlands’ playing captain at the United Cup, played three doubles tournaments with De Bakker in 2014. A decade later, they are representing their country together in Sydney.

“It is very nice obviously. He has struggled a bit lately, the last few years with injuries and stuff. But unbelievable player, good guy as well, a very good team player,” Koolhof said. “He played a lot of Davis Cup and he has a lot of experience being with groups and teams. It's very nice to have him back. It's always a bit of a tough spot, obviously the second singles guys don't really get to play... but very nice of him to say yes, and looking forward to spend some more time with Thiemo.”

De Bakker is around the best players of the world at the United Cup, but he knows that he is not yet on the verge of that becoming a weekly occurrence. For now, he is aiming to climb his way back to the ATP Challenger Tour and compete in Grand Slam qualifying.

“I'm just going to enjoy it and I'm going to try to get as fit as possible again, try to keep enjoying it as well,” De Bakker said. “Then we'll see what happens.”