ATP Rosmalen / The unknown who “destroyed” Daniil Medvedev: 5 things to know about Tim van Rijthoven

He never had an ATP match before this week …

This is most striking in view of Tim van Rijthoven’s incredible journey to ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The Dutchman signed a week of madness to postpone the tournament… when he had never won a single match on the main circuit before. Although he has played two Davis Cup matches with the Netherlands, the Rosendaal native has so far only played in one ATP Tour tournament, and that is not a date from yesterday. It was 2016 in Winston-Salem. Van Rijthoven, eliminated in the qualifying tournament, had the final was repêché while lucky loser after an injury of Thanasi Kokkinakis and was bowed after the first tournament in front of the Czech Jiri Vesely (3-6, 6-3, 6 -). 3).

You get the point, Van Rijthoven isn’t the little guy landing on the circuit. The 25-year-old Dutchman turned pro in 2015 but never qualified for a main circuit tournament, with the exception of Winston-Salem in 2016. He had to settle for tournaments. ATP Challenger and the ITF circuit. The titles on the ITF circuit and two finals on the ATP Challenger circuit are totaled. He also distinguished himself in the junior category by reaching 13th place in the world rankings and competing in a quarter-final at Wimbledon in 2014, especially pushing the Russian Andrey Rublev on his course.

But Medvedev remembered him

And with a superb tribute from the world number 2 as the icing on the cake. “Bravo Tim. Amazing week. This is your first final in an ATP tournament and you directly destroyed the world number 2 in two sets in the final, it must be a nice feeling! I remember you as a junior, you have talent. You need to repeat this more often now“.

The lowest ranked winner of the season

Don’t look. No ATP ranked 205th player has reported a tournament on the circuit this season. This was long exploited by Tim van Rijthoven in Rosmalen, where the Dutchman had a beneficial wild card. A sensation that is reminiscent of last year with Juan Manuel Cerundolo. The Argentine was suddenly taken out of anonymity by winning the Cordoba tournament, when he was only 335th in the ATP rankings.

To pinpoint Van Rijthoven’s unlikely performance, it should be noted that only two less well-ranked players have been able to report a grass tournament… since the turn of the century. First there was Mark Philippoussis, a former world No. 8 in May who dropped to 214th place in the world rankings in 2006 when he won in Newport. Then Nicolas Mahut, ranked 240th when the was created the surprise in dominating Stan Wawrinka in the final 2013 to win… ‘s-hertogenbosch.

A fan of Krajicek, a family dedicated to tennis

Van Rijthoven did not embark on a career as a tennis player by chance. His parents, Vermaas and Marieke, were tennis coaches and so immersed him very early in the world of the yellow ball. Young Tim also found a good example to follow: his compatriot Richard Krajicek. Le Néerlandais created a major sensation at Wimbledon in 1996, after beating Michael Stich and Pete Sampras in particular, then in America MaliVai Washington in the final. Krajicek was Van Rijthoven’s coach in 2017 and 2018.

Which partly explains why the Dutchman speaks particularly well on grass, a surface where the service of this large template (1.88m) wreaks havoc. A former member of Bradenton’s IMG academy, Nick Bollettieri’s, Van Rijthoven was also inspired by Roger Federer’s play, his idle according to his biography on the ATP’s official website. He is also a big fan of the Ajax Amsterdam foot team, golfer Tiger Woods and actor Denzel Washington.

The coach’s son was a black beast of Sampras

Le nom de Paul Haarhuis rappellera there may be some souvenirs for tennis enthusiasts in the 90’s. . of his only singles title on the circuit in Jakarta. Above all, he will remain one of the few players to have a positive record against the legendary Pete Sampras, like Krajicek by the way, with three victories and only one defeat in four confrontations with the American. In particular, he beat him in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells in 1996, before knocking down Goran Ivanisevic in the semifinals and only bowing out to Michael Chang in the final.

It was certainly the busiest week of his career. Haarhuis had many more doubles with 54 titles and a remarkable total of 95 finals on the circuit. A formidable pair he composed with compatriot Jacco Eltingh has postponed all Grand Slam tournaments, including Roland Garros twice, as well as two Masters. He won the Paris clay court for the third time with former world number one Evgueni Kafelnikov in 2002. This was his last doubles title.