Always to the places of honor, Belgium is one of the outsiders of this twelfth edition. Led by their leader Jonas Merckx, ranked 520th at ATP, the Belgians embody the perfect blend of experience and freshness. The three boys are teammates in the Koddaert Tennis Club and two of them are regulars of the Master’U BNP Paribas. Lise Brulmans and Emily Casteleyn are new to this competition. With Emma Janssen, they will bring their thirst for victory and their joy of living on and off the courts. Ingredients that could prove crucial when facing Germany in the quarter-finals. Comments from Joeri Gijsels, the belgium coach.
Lise BRULMANS
«She always thinks positive, with a very good mentality. She’s really fun.»
Emily CASTELEYN
«Even if she is a bit shy, she is very competitive and always wins at cards!»
Emma JANSSEN
«She is a true team player, she has this spirit, always thinking about the team. She’s very nice!»
Louis CANT
«He is the oldest and plays his third Master U. Strong defender, he returned very well. Overall, he is mad!»
Michael GEERTS
« He was ATP top 400. He decided to go on studying in Belgium and in the States.»
Jonas MERCKX
«He is the leader of this team. He can run for hours, has a strong return. He is really athletic.»
The player to watch out for : Jonas Merckx
Because he has a very famous name in Belgium; because he has the best ATP ranking of his team (520th) and because he was undefeated here last year, he is spearhead of Belgium. His coach, Joeri Gijsels, says: “Recently he was 485th. He had a very good season, reaching three ATP 15000 semi-finals and winning a man double tournament with Michael Geerts. He is in good shape”. For his 5th participation, the Aalst-born Belgian hopes to lead his team as far as possible.
The staff
Joeri Gijsels have been taking part of this event since the beginning whereas Thomas Wissaert is the handy man and can fix every situation