Who is Tim van Rijthoven? The wildcard who stunned Daniil Medvedev to win his maiden tour title on home soil
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Tim van Rijthoven
Dutch wildcard Tim van Rijthoven continued his fairytale run and pulled one big upset by winning the Libema Open trophy on his home soil with a straight-sets win over World No.2, Daniil Medvedev. Ranked No 205 in the world, Rijthoven won 6-4, 6-1 in 65 minutes. The Dutchman had never won an ATP level match prior to this week, however, he created a wonder by winning his maiden ATP trophy on home soil, that too by defeating a major name like Daniil Medvedev. Also, en route to the final showdown, he defeated top-seeded players like Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Tim Van Rijthoven has a career-high ATP singles ranking of 175, which he first earned in April 2022, as well as a career-high doubles ranking of 225, which he first got in May 2022. He reached the quarterfinals of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships boys’ singles tournament and the semifinals of the boys’ doubles tournament as a junior, reaching a peak of world No. 13 in 2015. He also has played in the Davis Cup for the Netherlands and has a 1–1 record. On the ITF World Tennis Tour, he has won 13 Futures tournaments, including eight singles wins and five doubles titles.
Tim van Rijthoven’s singles career
He made his ATP World Tour debut in 2016 by qualifying as a lucky loser for the Winston-Salem Open when Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew due to a persistent shoulder ailment, losing in the first round to Ji Vesely. On February 21, 2022, he broke into the top 200 in singles after reaching his second singles Challenger final as a qualifier in Forli, Italy.
As a wildcard, he overcame Matthew Ebden and world No. 14 and third seed Taylor Fritz to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in his career at the 2022 Libéma Open. He reached his first semifinal by defeating Hugo Gaston in straight sets and overcame world No. 9 and second seed Félix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinals to win against a top 10 player for the first time in his career. In the final, van Rijthoven defeated world no. 2 and first seed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, becoming the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP championship in 2022 and the first Dutchman to win an ATP 250 event since Sjeng Schalken in 2003.
Also Read: Who is Tim van Rijthoven’s girlfriend? Know all about Maartje Basten
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Pritha Ghosh
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