The unique factor that unites last three Olympic women's champs Zheng Qinwen, Belinda Bencic and Monica Puig: All you need to know
The last three women's singles Olympic gold medalists are all managed by the same person - IMG's Marijn Bal. The Vice President of WME Sports - IMG Tennis, manages Monica Puig, Belinda Bencic, and Zheng Qinwen, among many other established tennis stars.
What could have been called a coincidence until Tokyo 2020, may now be considered by many as a masterstroke. Marijn Bal must be doing many things right to be the agent of the last three women's singles gold medallists at the Olympic Games.
In 2016, Monica Puig was an unseeded singles player representing Puerto Rico. However, she made an extraordinary run to win the first Olympic gold medal in Puerto Rico's history. She became the ninth sportsperson and the first woman to win an Olympic medal for Puerto Rico.
In 2020, Belinda Bencic defeated the likes of Barbora Krejčíková, Elena Rybakina, and Markéta Vondroušová to become the first Swiss woman to win the gold medal in singles. Bencic even bagged the silver in the women's doubles with Viktorija Golubic.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen created history by becoming the first Chinese woman to win a singles gold medal at the Olympics.
Notably, the three women have never won a Grand Slam title. However, they have achieved one of the highest honors in tennis. In common for the trio is their agent Bal.
“I worked I would say, 19 hours a day to give myself a chance" - Marijn Bal on his dedication when he started as an intern
Marijn Bal currently works for IMG (International Management Group). IMG has a widespread network in the sports, fashion, events, and media industries. Bal started as an unpaid intern at IMG and his sole focus was to outwork competition.
“I worked I would say, 19 hours a day during that internship. I said, 'I’m in the door and I ain't leaving,' that’s for sure... I was doing absolutely everything I can to give myself a chance," Bal recalled on the Inside-In Podcast.
Bal was offered an assistant's position at the end of his internship and he never looked back.
“It was the same attitude I took in tennis as a young kid. I will outwork, I will work as hard as I can, I will get there. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, but I will get to that position of ultimately becoming a tennis agent,” he added.
The marketing graduate from the University of North Georgia also mentioned that he tries to play 'as big or small a role' as possible in the achievements of the players he manages. He believes he has a 'good personal relationship' with all his clients, including two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
Marijn Bal did everything possible to witness Monica Puig's historic Olympic gold medal win in Rio
Monica Puig's best Grand Slam run was a fourth-round finish at Wimbledon. She barely qualified for the Olympics. However, as an unseeded player, she went on to defeat Petra Kvitova in the semifinal of the 2016 Rio Games. Soon after, she asked her agent Marijn Bal to come watch her.
“She walks off the court (after her semifinal win) and she says to me, ‘You better be there tomorrow when the final is.’ And I’m like 'Oh my god, I’m in Florida,'” Bal recalled during the same podcast episode.
“I jumped on a flight overnight to Rio and got there in the morning. I had no credentials, nowhere to go, and I didn’t speak Portuguese... I was there for that gold-medal match which was an amazing experience,” the agent added.
An accomplished agent in the tennis world, Bal advises all the youngsters aspiring to follow his career path to 'never take no for an answer'. He believes you can be rejected 99 times but you should try the 100th time and you may succeed.