Who was the Dutch guy...

[atatu]

Who made the fnals of the French Open....big serve, lost to JCF in the finals ? He never did too much after that tournament, can't place his name right now...

[jayserinos99]

Verkerk right?

[atatu]

That's it, Martin Verkerk ! Thanks, wonder whatever happened to him ?

[bigmatt]

I believe he lost to Guga, not Ferrero.

[kiki]

Okker was the best ever dutchman, lost to Ashe at the 1968 USO finals and was ranked in the top 10 from 1968 to 1974.

[timnz]

Originally Posted by kiki

Okker was the best ever dutchman, lost to Ashe at the 1968 USO finals and was ranked in the top 10 from 1968 to 1974.

Was he better than Richard Krajicek in your opinion? I know that Laver rated Okker very highly.

[Mustard]

Originally Posted by bigmatt

I believe he lost to Guga, not Ferrero.

Verkerk lost to Ferrero in the 2003 French Open final. Kuerten lost in the Round of 16 to Robredo.

Verkerk had excellent wins over Moya and Coria to get to the final.

[kiki]

Originally Posted by timnz

Was he better than Richard Krajicek in your opinion? I know that Laver rated Okker very highly.

You got me.How could I forget Richard? I saw him beating great cc expert Berasategui in the finals of a clay court event.He did it by S&V plus great forehand and amazingly consistent.

I really can´t tell between Okker and krajicek, although Richard´s record is far better than Tom´s.However, Okker stayed at the top echelon of the game for a few more years than Krajicek.Okker lsot 2 major finals (Masters to the unbeatable Nnasty of ´73 and USo to Ashe) and made the semis of the greatest events.Krajicek also reached the semis of AO and FO besides his great 1996 Wimbledon.

Both are, undeniably, the best dutchmen.Women´s had Stove (Wimbledon r/U and FO sf) and Brenda Schults...and, in doubles play...who can forget Haarhius/Elthing... or Okker with Fibak or Riessen?

[atatu]

I think you have to take Krajicek over Okker.Looks like Verkerk is working at an academy in Amsterdam now:

http://laurense.com/TENNIS_ACADEMY-Coaches.html

[urban]

I am not so sure about Kraijicek over Okker. True, Kraij won the Big W, but Okker was overall the far more successful player, with more titles, world rankings and more surface versatility. Won Rome , Hamburg, Monte Carlo and was unlucky to have to skip RG in 1970-72 in his prime, due to WCT commitments. He had to play a bunch of more experienced grass courters like Laver, Newk, Roche, Smith, Borg and Ashe, while Kraij in his big year only had to deal with Sampras. Against guys like Washington or Stoltenberg, Okker would have won Wim, too.

[treblings]

was tom okker the first great player from the netherlands or did he have predecessors? i can´t remember myself. any players in the 50´s or even before wwII?

[urban]

Henk Timmer was a good player in the 20s. Played against Tilden.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by urban

Henk Timmer was a good player in the 20s. Played against Tilden.

at least i don´t have to beat myself up for forgetting about timmer. never knew about him in the first place
looked him up, he played daviscup against austria in 1928, beating Franz Matejka in 5 sets.
his compatriot was a player called Diemer-Kool

[Xavier G]

Okker was a more interesting player to watch than Krajicek. The game was different then though, less power-orientated. Okker was still making the semis of Wimbledon in the late 70's, running into Borg then, in78 I think. He was a good doubles player too.

[Moose Malloy]

while Kraij in his big year only had to deal with Sampras.

He also beat Stich that year.