Griekspoor battled out a game of the service machines with Berrettini after the two produced a staggering combined 148 service points against just 41 return points. The Dutchman eventually won the match after breaking Berrettini twice in a row during the closing tiebreak.
Griekspoor rebounded with a 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4) win after what he called a "disappointing week" in Montpellier. The 43rd-ranked Dutchman got eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Occitanie Open by fellow countryman Jesper de Jong and blamed himself for being "too passive."
"I was way too passive in Geneva, in all three games," Griekspoor told reporters after the match. "I was absolutely not happy with that.
"I think I have the game and level to force games myself. I’d rather lose that game by hitting 25 backhands out than by not going for it like last week.
"I told myself that I was going to do things differently this week. It’s up to me to keep this fierceness up."
Fifth Grand Slam
Griekspoor became just the fifth Dutchman to win 10 total games at the Rotterdam tournament - one his former coach Raemon Sluiter called 'the fifth Grand Slam'.
"It’s no secret that this is my favourite tournament of the year," Griekspoor continued. "It’s a dream to have my name up in the stadium."
With just two ATP tournaments in the Netherlands, playing on home soil is something special for Griekspoor. "I enjoy (playing in the Netherlands), I've always said I wanted to play at the big courts.
"I enjoy playing in the Netherlands a lot. There’s maybe some added pressure and I think it makes me play etter. I find it beautiful to play in front of family and friends.
"I have won a tournament in the Netherlands before and it was incredibly beautiful and special. You have to be very good to win here. I think I’ve done really well the past two years but I haven’t really come close."
28-year-old Griekspoor enjoyed his peak in 2023 by reaching the 21st spot in the ATP Rankings. He's fallen to the 43rd spot since that moment, but is determined to return to where he once was.
"I strongly believe my best years are yet to come, also physically. Physically and mentally I made a lot of steps. Three years ago, I wouldn’t have won this game. I wouldn't have been ready for this, but I am now.
"The goal is clear - I want to get back to the top 20, get my seeded status at Grand Slams back, and make a deep run somewhere. I know when I keep and find my level that I’m capable of doing a lot."
Tallon Griekspoor's next opponent will be Stefanos Tsitsipas. The two play their second-round matchup in the last match of Thursday's afternoon session and Griekspoor expects a similar matchup as today's against Berrettini.
"I think they (Berrettini and Tsitsipas) are similar. I think Tsitsipas also likes to play a service forehand and I think it’ll be good for me to pin him down in his backhand corner. It was my goal today, too, to pull him to his forehand and then pin him down, because he waits to rotate around his backhand.
"Tsitsipas is someone who looks for services on his ball 3rd ball forehand. Hopefuly that gives me a lot of returns to get away from that, but I’ll have to be very fierce tomorrow again."
