Fons: 'It started with the final of Nadal vs Federer in 2007. I remember exactly how Nadal walked on the track, I wanted this too!'
That dream became the driving force behind AMJOY. Fons and Jim Hendrikx, Tess Demin and Minchae Kim are the players of the first batch. This class has really pioneered. All participated in the top 10 of their age in the Netherlands. It started with training at David Lloyd led by Annemieke, Annemarie and Jochem, who was just 17 at the time. Full of energy and passion, we worked on the level and in addition to fun training days during the holidays, we were going to guide the Junior Tour. But we also went to the U10 World Cup in Croatia.
In 2013, the selection training grew into our own tennis school AMJOY, which enabled us to offer our own LOOT training. To date, the collaboration with Sint Joriscollege in Eindhoven has grown to be very intensive. Internationally we went to Tennis Europe U12 tournaments and players became part of Team NL of the KNLTB for the summer and winter cup. And via Tennis Europe U14 we grew to ITF Juniors and eventually the Future tournaments for the professionals. Fons: 'The period of the international youth tournaments was great. We always traveled in a group with coaches. These trips will always stay with me. I was able to play against the European top players. Friendships were also made for the rest of my life.
The Nadal dream became a concrete goal: to find a college in the USA. This could give me the best chances to grow into professional tennis. Slamstox helped me a lot with the process. In September 2021 the adventure started for me at NC state in Raleigh, North Carolina. This year I got my first ATP point. Without AMJOY and the private moments with Benjamin Reek and Bart Beks and the physical training sessions of Jorne and Gijs I would not have been able to achieve this. I am also grateful to Babolat as a sponsor. AMJOY always remains MY HOME It's great that I can come back during the holidays to train and play matches in a group in the ITF circuit.'
We wish Fons all the best for the coming years and use him often to tell our story. Fons was the example of hard work with fun! Doing everything for it and positive. Let's go Fons!
University: NC state in Raleigh, North Carolina
