Robin Haase has worked quietly towards the qualifying tournament of Roland Garros, which starts on Monday. Due to minor physical discomfort, a vaccination appointment and an unexpected reserve role, the number 204 in the world hardly took action in recent months. This gave him time for a new activity: an art club, which he set up together with his old coach Raymond Knaap.
On Thursday, the 34-year-old Haase drove towards Paris, a week and a half before the start of the main tournament. From 2010 to 2019 he was assured of a place in the main tournament, but nowadays he has been sentenced to the qualifications. While Haase played a lot in his best years in the run-up to Roland Garros, he played only three tournaments since the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – at the beginning of March.
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“Unfortunately I haven’t played much on clay yet,” said Haase, who dropped a tournament this week because he could be vaccinated in Germany. “The gravel has caused some physical problems and I have more problems with my knee. The weather is not really helping. When it is around 8 degrees, I just notice that I have problems.”
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As a result, Haase, who traveled to Prague earlier this month for a challenger but was not admitted, has been unable to make any progress in the world rankings in the first five months. “Hopefully it will also be a bit easier to play tournaments after the relaxation.”
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During the corona period, Haase made serious work of another passion: art. Together with Raymond Knaap, from whom he recently said goodbye, he set up the R & R Art Club. “We traveled together for five years and when we walked through the city we always had an eye for museums and galleries,” says Haase.
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“At a certain point we said: why don’t we do something with it? With the club we want to create a community, make people enthusiastic about art and, for example, contribute to making canteens a bit cozier. We thought it was important that it was affordable. and would not be mass production. Of all Europeans, the Dutch spend almost the least money on art. “
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Haase emphasizes that it is not his own art that he shows in his webshop. “I wish I was good at it, but I can only color something in,” said the former number 33 in the world. “But I did make a piece of art in collaboration with an artist. It all actually happened quite quickly.”
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It is possible that Haase will devote himself more intensively to his art club after his career. “For the time being, stimulating a passion for art is more important than making a profit. But in the future we want to do more and combine our passion for art and sports.”
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