Saskia Bollerman (born 20 September 1994) is a
Dutch real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...
player. She holds two singles and seven doubles
Open titles, and has reached the final of the
World Doubles Championship
The World Doubles Championship, also known as the Hofmeister World Doubles (1982–1986) or the Fosters World Doubles (1987) for sponsorship purposes, was a non-Snooker world rankings, ranking team snooker tournament held from 1982 to 1987 as the ...
on three occasions. She has held the
Dutch Women's Champion title between 2016 and 2018 and continuously since 2022, and reached the final of the Dutch Closed Championship on two occasions, losing both times to her brother Paul Bollerman.
Career
Bollerman grew up in the
Netherlands, a country which has not had active
real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...
courts since the 17th century. Bollerman started playing real tennis as her father jointly initiated the
Dutch Real Tennis Association, initially playing occasionally at
Seacourt Tennis Club
Seacourt is a deserted medieval village ( DMV ) near the City of Oxford.
The site is now mostly beneath the Oxford Western By-pass ( A34 ),
about south of the Seacourt / Hinksey Stream crossing.
Name
The earliest known refere ...
, but later moving to
Radley College in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
once that court was built in 2008. As such, Bollerman would only play real tennis once or twice per year. Bollerman competed in the Dutch Championship at
Radley College every year since 2010.
Bollerman's career as a real tennis player began in earnest in 2015, when the women's
Real Tennis World Championship was head at the
Leamington Tennis Court Club
Leamington may refer to:
Places
* Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
* Leamington Hastings, Warwickshire, England
* Leamington, Ontario, Canada
* Leamington, Utah, US
* Leamington, Cambridge, a suburb of Cambridge, New Zealand
* Leamington ...
in
Warwickshire where she won the Plate competition. That year, she also competed in the French Open for the first time, reaching the quarter final. In the second half of 2015, Bollerman moved to the
Royal Melbourne Tennis Club
The Royal Melbourne Tennis Club (RMTC) is one of only four real tennis clubs in Australia, and the site of one of less than fifty real tennis venues in the world. The RMTC is the second oldest in Australia and the largest. It is one of only five ...
for a six-month stint to improve her real tennis while completing her
Master's degree. While in Melbourne, she partnered with World Champion
Claire Fahey
Claire Fahey (born 19 June 1991) is a British real tennis player and current real tennis Ladies World Champion.
Career
Fahey became the youngest world champion for real tennis in 2011 when she was 19. She won again in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, ...
to win her first Open Doubles title at the 2016 Australian Open.
Now firmly established in the World Top 10, Bollerman competed in all four Opens in the calendar year 2017, winning three doubles titles - two with Fahey and one with
Tara Lumley
Tara Lumley (born 10 August 1994) is a British real tennis and rackets player and current women's World Doubles Champion. She is currently ranked world number 3 in both singles and doubles at real tennis. She holds 2 Open singles and 7 Open dou ...
- and her first singles title at the US Open in the absence of Fahey, who was away due to her pregnancy. At that year's World Championship in
Tuxedo, Bollerman reached the semi final of the singles competition, losing to Claire's sister
Sarah Vigrass
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious ...
, as well as the final of the doubles partnered with
Amanda Avedissian
Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, “she who must (or is fit to) be loved”. Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much ...
.
Bollerman competed in the first two Opens of 2018, reaching the final of both the Australian and
British Opens against Fahey. However an injury in the 2018
LRTA International at
Petworth House forced Bollerman to take a break from real tennis for over 12 months to recover. Bollerman briefly returned in the doubles of the Australian Open with
Kate Leeming
Kate Leeming (born 1967) is an Australian extreme endurance cyclist and explorer, known for several long distance cycling expeditions. She has cycled more than twice round the world at the Equator.
Background
Leeming was raised in Northam, rural ...
in 2020, but the
COVID-19 pandemic prevented any further tournament play for another two years.
Bollerman's full return to competitive
real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...
was at the
2022 Real Tennis World Championship
The 2022 Real Tennis World Championship was a real tennis tournament held at Prested Hall in Feering, Essex, England in September 2022. Rob Fahey, the 13-time and reigning world champion, was beaten by the challenger, and former champion, Camde ...
at
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...
near
Paris. There, she lost the quarter final of the singles to local favourite
Lea van der Zwalmen, but partnered
Isabel Candy
Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of ''Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popula ...
to reach the final of the doubles competition for the second time. Later that year, Bollerman would regain her Dutch Women's Championship title, and would win the doubles at the
2022 French Open
The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair ...
with van der Zwalmen, her first victory against Fahey who had partnered with
Nicola Doble. In late 2022, Bollerman would represent the
Rest of the World team against
Great Britain at the inaugural women's Bathurst Cup at
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...
. Bollerman was the only member of her team to win both matches, as the event was won by Great Britain.
Bollerman competed in all four Opens in 2023. She won her first Australian Open singles title in January against
Jo See Tan, and partnered with Tan to win the doubles. At the
2023 World Championship at
The Oratory School, Bollerman and van der Zwalmen reached the final, the third such occasion for Bollerman and the first for van der Zwalmen, falling to Fahey and Lumley. van der Zwalmen and Bollerman were unable to replicate their feat of beating Fahey at the previous years French Open in either the 2023
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
or
US Opens.
In 2024, Bollerman again competed for the
Rest of the World at the Bathurst Cup in
Melbourne. The match against Great Britain was tied after the regular rounds of singles and doubles, so went to a deciding match where Bollerman and van der Zwalmen defeated Lumley and
Georgie Willis for their first Bathurst Cup victory.
The pair lost again to Lumley and Fahey at the proceeding
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
.
Performance timeline
Singles
''Current through the 2024 US Ladies Open''
Doubles
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bollerman, Saskia
1994 births
Living people
Dutch sportswomen
Dutch real tennis players