Emiel started with a convincing victory in the first round (1/32 finals), where he defeated Israel's Gabriel Lutzky 6-3, 6-2, an opponent against whom he had narrowly lost in a tiebreak at the last European Championships.
The match got off to a difficult start and was even briefly interrupted due to a nosebleed. But as the match progressed, Schippers found his rhythm. Thanks to his controlled and determined play, he prevailed and secured a place in the round of 32 — an excellent start to his first tournament of this magnitude.
Emiel continued his momentum in the following rounds. Emiel played a very strong match against the world number 5, Sekhar Privthi from India. He narrowly lost the first set 5-7, but fought back well with some excellent tennis. He continued to play with control and the match began to take its toll physically on his opponent. The Indian briefly sprained his foot, prompting him to request medical assistance after the score was tied at 1-1. This allowed the Indian to catch his breath. At the same time, it started to rain in Tokyo. As a result, the match was moved to an indoor court. Emiel did not let this break his concentration and immediately fought back to take a 2-0 lead. The Indian then gave up, allowing Emiel to surprisingly qualify for the third round!
The local supporters were very happy with this victory!
Against France's Samuel Cazaux, he won a clear victory (6-2, 6-3), qualifying for the quarter-finals. There he faced a formidable opponent: the world number two, the experienced Hungarian Gabor Mathe.
In the quarter-finals, Emiel played a particularly strong first set. In the tiebreak, he came back from 3-1 down to 6-3 and then 6-6, before narrowly losing 8-6. In the second set, he was unfortunately unable to continue his comeback, and Mathe won 6-1, denying Emiel a place in the semi-finals.
Despite the understandable disappointment, this is an extremely promising start on the Deaflympics. Emiel exceeded even the most ambitious expectations, reaching the quarter-finals and clearly attracting the attention of all the delegations present. His coach, Luc, says he is very satisfied with his performance and sees him as an athlete with exceptional potential.
With continued commitment, sustained training and the refinement of a few areas for improvement, Emiel Schippers undoubtedly has a bright sporting career ahead of him.
