From November 10th to 16th, I was able to compete in the NEC Singles and UNIQLO Doubles Masters in China. The Masters opens to the top eight singles players and the top six doubles pairs. Qualification is based on the international ranking. I’ve already competed in the Doubles Masters several times, in 2023 and 2024. This year, for the first time, I was also able to compete in the Singles Masters!

In the singles, I was in a group with Yui Kamiji, Xiaohui Li, and Jiske Griffioen. On the first day, I played against Xiaohui Li on the large center court. Unfortunately, I lost the match 2-6 5-7. On the second day, I faced my compatriot Jiske Griffioen. After losing the first set, I managed to turn the match around and win, the score being 1-6 6-1 6-2. I played my last group match against Yui Kamiji, which I unfortunately lost 1-6, 4-6.

In the doubles, I played with Aniek van Koot. The first group match was against Xiaohui Li and Ziying Wang. After a thrilling match lasting over two hours, we lost 7-5, 6-7(4), 4-10. The next day we played against Yui Kamiji and Zhenzhen Zhu, which we unfortunately lost 4-6, 3-6. We were also supposed to play a third group match against Kgothatso Montjane and Luoyao Guo, but this match was cancelled due to withdrawals by our opponents.

Ultimately, I finished third in the group in both the singles and doubles. This meant I just missed out on the semi-finals. It was an awesome experience playing the Masters in China!