Eltingh and Haarhuis
ATP Tour: Ten Years of Superstar Tennis, December 1999The writing was on the wall even before Jacco Eltingh left Paul Haarhuis at the US Open altar in September 1998. With Eltingh's retirement imminent, the Dutchmen were hoping for one last ceremony before ending one of the greatest doubles partnerships in the Open era. Since 1968 not a single team - not even John McEnroe and Peter Fleming - had won all four Grand Slam titles.
Having won Roland Garros and Wimbledon Grand Slam titles that very year and the Australian in 1994, the duo were set to make history at the Flushing Meadows. But they didn't bargain on a pint-sized gatecrasher who would bring that party to a shuddering halt, while instantaneously starting another in the Eltingh family.
Lars Eltingh, Jacco's first child, was born on the eve of their first match, and not even the prospect of becoming the first player to win all four Grand Slams in the same year since 1951 - Jacco had won the Australian with Jonas Bjorkman - could keep Eltingh senior at Haarhuis's side.
It prompted the quote of the year from the jilted Haarhuis. "I can't believe he's dumping me, his buddy for seven years, for a kid he's never seen before!"
Eltingh was just getting his own back for the Australian Open earlier that year, when it had been Haarhuis doing the dumping for precisely the same reasons - the desire to witness the birth of his own son, Daan. Without his other half, Eltingh enjoyed his brief fling with Bjorkman, and gave himself the chance to make history.
Little Lars, however, didn't seem to care much for history. Impatient to see the outside world, he arrived ten days early. His Dad took the first flight home and got there to see the whole event with just minutes to spare.
You could feel the relief in the doubles locker room. The absence of Eltingh and Haarhuis, meant that everyone else had a chance. The Dutch pair had dominated the ATP Tour year like few others have done before, taking nine titles and losing just four matches in fifty outings. With the Eltingh/Haarhuis, Todd Woodbridge/ Mark Woodforde partnerships rampaging around, no one else could get a look-in. Alex O'Brien summed up the general feeling: "I was thinking one time that I hadn't won many doubles titles in my career, but I think it's because the Woodies or Eltingh/Haarhuis are always in the field."
The two alliances have amassed ninety-two titles between them, including fourteen Grand Slams.
But not even their opponents would suggest that the retirement of Eltingh was cause for celebration. When a force as irresistible as Eltingh and Haarhuis is removed from a sport, it leaves an emptiness that you can physically feel, be you a fan, an official, or even an opponent who fell to its power.
The sport also lost one of its great rivalries. Eltingh and Haarhuis had been going at it with the Woodies for a decade, and in 17 encounters, the Dutch duo had the upper hand by just one match. When the two pairs faced off, you had the feeling that the match was going to explode into something special. It was just a question of time.
"It's a great rivalry we had with the Woodies," said Eltingh. "The titles we've won have more meaning since they've come at a time when they were around. I always looked forward to meeting them, because that usually meant we were in a final somewhere. We both have a lot of the same qualities and we respected them and they respected us. They showed great sportsmanship after we won Wimbledon, where they'd won five times, which is amazing."
Anyone who witnessed that 1998 final at the All England Club, won't forget it in a hurry. Woodbridge and Woodforde were unbeaten on Wimbledon turf in five years and 35 outings. Eltingh and Haarhuis had lost just one of their previous 28 matches. The stage was set. After four hours of blood, sweat and tears, it was the Dutch pair left standing, and then bouncing, in celebration.
Modest to the end, Eltingh was a little embarrassed by his exuberance.
"I saw the replay and I saw that I jumped up in the air four or five times when we won. I usually hate it when people do that, but I was just so unbelievably happy. We'd lost to the Woodies in the final the year before and Wimbledon was the only title we had not won. We knew this was our last chance and the press were building it up back home. To win in a match that was so thrilling, with all the other outside factors going on, was just very nice."
Like most happy couples, the initial courting stages weren't all plain sailing. The Dutchmen first got together in 1989, reaching the final of a challenger event in Lagos, but they didn't make a full commitment until 1992. Anyway, as twentysomethings starting out a new decade, Eltingh and Haarhuis had singles lives to consider. They both made the top twenty on the ATP Tour singles rankings, and picked up five solo titles - four for Eltingh, one for Haarhuis.
Memories tell the story better than statistics. In April 1993, Eltingh took on Pete Sampras in Atlanta, the American's first tournament since reaching the No.1 ranking that he would hold for a record six years. Eltingh chipped, charged and chased Sampras off the green clay, and promptly won the title.
Haarhuis had his fair share of singles drama over the years. In 1989 he qualified for the main draw of the US Open, reached the last 16, and knocked out John McEnroe in his own back-yard.
It's hard to imagine the endlessly amiable Dutchman taking the part of the bad guy, but Haarhuis was forcibly cast in that role more than once. First, against Jimmy Connors in the 1991 US Open, and then in a match with Britain's Tim Henman at Wimbledon, six years later. The pre-match script of both encounters would have had him sauntering off-court, the loser, within a couple of hours. But Haarhuis exercised his creative license. He kept Connors and Henman on-court for a good few hours longer than he was meant to, showed that he didn't need his mate Eltingh out there to play well, and scared the life out of the partisan supporters, before succumbing.
Eltingh and Haarhuis will be remembered as greats of the game though, as well as for being the ideal couple. For almost ten years, they enjoyed the kind of on-court romance that movies are made of, and they deserved a happy ending. They got one, eclipsing all before them to take the 1998 Pheonix/ATP Tour World Doubles Championships in Hartford.
"It's a little sad to end our era together," said Haarhuis afterwards. "We were so successful and had so many good times both on and off the court together that it's a shame it's stopping. But it's also the best way to stop, winning the World Championship and finishing No.1."
"It feels a bit like a divorce," said Eltingh. But he knew that the time was right to call it a day. "How can I top this?" he asked. "I have no desire to return. Our goal was to have a great year, win some Slams and the World Championship, get back to No.1, and we did it."
So the Eltingh/Haarhuis era is over forever. Or is it?
"They are unique," confirmed their long-time coach Alex Reynders. "But they both have a son, so maybe twenty years from now we will have another Eltingh/Haarhuis."
A scary thought for doubles teams everywhere.
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