Jeline Vandromme made herself heard for the first time this year when she won the European championship for under-16 year olds. Last weekend she added the final victory at the European Masters in Monaco.
With modern women’s tennis. “Jeline is an aggressive player with a lot of power,” says Robbe Ceyssens, coach at the Top Sports Center. “She likes to deal the first blow, she puts a lot of pressure and she has a solid return.”
“Her tennis is somewhat similar to that of world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka, but not as powerful of course,” the tennis coach continues.
“You can rather compare her game with that of Anett Kontaveit (former number 2 in the world, ed).”
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The honors list of the European Masters includes great names such as Kim Clijsters and Rafael Nadal (among the under-14s), but also players who never made it through.
“The road is still long,” says Robbe Ceyssens, who guided Elise Mertens to the top.
“For us, Jeline stands out in her category. We now also know where she stands in Europe.”
In the coming weeks, Vandromme will go to the United States for the first time to play tennis against her peers.
Ceyssens: “That will be a new value meter.”
“After that we want to prepare her for the Grand Slam tournaments. The Australian Open for juniors may come too early, we are mainly thinking about Roland Garros and Wimbledon.”
This month, Jeline Vandromme turns 16. A birthday she can celebrate at the Top Sports Center of Tennis Flanders in Wilrijk, where top players such as Kim Clijsters and Elise Mertens also attended school.
Vandromme works under the wing of Alain De Vos, former coach of Alison Van Uytvanck and Olympic champion Monica Puig.
Remarkably, the talent only appeared on the radar of the Top Sports Center this year.
“Jeline remained under the radar for a long time, because she hardly played youth tournaments,” Robbe Ceyssens explains. “Jeline mainly played tennis at club level against adults.”
“When she started playing tournaments for under-18s, she quickly emerged and we picked her up at the Top Sports Center.”
To also rise to the top among the pros in a few years? “Winning the Masters is a very nice achievement,” Ceyssens concludes.
