A disastrous clay swing prompted Tallon Griekspoor to immediately search for answers. He found them in the form of Maria Sharapova’s former coach, who has already worked with him at the French Open. With a proven track record of improving players’ movements and rebuilding playstyles, the coach will help Griekspoor address his weaknesses.

Griekspoor confirmed he has engaged the services of Thomas Hogstedt permanently after working with the Swede on a trial basis during the French Open. Ahead of the grass-court season, historically his greatest strength, he believes this will help iron out his issues.

“I look forward to working on tennis specifically with someone again”, said Griekspoor. “That might sound strange, but for two or three years I was mainly focused on developing myself as a person. Only then did my tennis come into play”.

The Dutch player has undergone significant changes in coaching personnel over the last few years. Griekspoor was under the tutelage of Kristof Vliegen from the latter half of the 2022 season, but made a switch to the duo of Dennis Sporrel and Xavier Malisse at the beginning of last year, before again reuniting with Vliegen last June.

With Hogstedt added to his team, one can expect better performances from Griekspoor. Hogstedt has been a coach of pedigree, especially in the WTA. He has coached high-profile players such as Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Simona Halep, and Madison Keys.

His most successful stint came with Sharapova from 2010-2013, when the Russian reached four Grand Slam finals, winning the 2012 French Open, which completed her Career Slam.

For Griekspoor, the move signals a shift toward technical refinement under a proven mentor. However, there is already an established rapport, as the Dutch player said his trainer, Sebastian Pisano, was on familiar terms with Hogstedt, both of whom are from Sweden.

Griekspoor hopes the Swedish-centric coaching team will elevate his Wimbledon performance, where he has thrived on grass.

Grass Has Been Griekspoor’s Best Surface

Of his three ATP titles, Griekspoor has won two titles on grass. The Dutchman won the Mallorca Championships last year, defeating Ethan Quinn, Gabriel Diallo, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Corentin Moutet to clinch the title. He also won his home event at the Libema Open, winning the title back in 2023 with a win over Jordan Thompson in the final.

This year, however, the grass-court season started poorly for Griekspoor at the Libema Open. He won a tough first-round match against his compatriot, Botic Van de Zandschulp, in three sets, but could not go past the second round, losing to Zhang Zhizhen.

As the sixth seed and former champion, Griekspoor was disappointed with the result, especially given crowd support. He hopes that the additions to his coaching team augur better results at Wimbledon, where the Dutchman has a paltry 2-5 win-loss record.

Overall, Griekspoor has had an average season so far, having an 11-14 win-loss record. He did reach his sixth career final in Dubai with wins over Alexander Bublik, Jakub Mensik, and Andrey Rublev before he withdrew due to injury before his final against Daniil Medvedev.

He did have a quarterfinal run at his home event in Rotterdam, but the clay-court season was a disaster for the Dutchman. In the six Tour-level events he played on the dirt this year, he had five opening-round exits. Despite being seeded, he lost in the first round of the French Open to Matteo Arnaldi.

Griekspoor has the tools to succeed at the highest level, especially on grass, as the Dutchman has a solid serve and a strong forehand, which will fly on the faster surface. However, return of serve and backhand are two of his vulnerabilities. This is where Hogstedt will come in handy, as he is an expert in developing specific skill sets, and Griekspoor will hope to benefit from the same.