Van Rijthoven forever a winner

Libéma Open has many different winners.

World class players confirming their status, Dutchmen soaring to great heights in front of their own audience, super talents showing themselves to the world and winners fulfilling their promises.

But Tim van Rijthoven wrote a fairytale in 2022 that even Hans Christian Andersen would have envied.

After corona got in the way of the tournament for two years, there could be no better restart. With a wildcard , Van Rijthoven started on court 1 against Australian grass lover Matthew Ebden. In two tiebreaks, the 25-year-old Brabander coolly pulled off the win.

It turned out to be the starting shot to more. Uninhibited and with pebble-hard serves, sharp volleys, vicious slices and attacking forehands, he beat top player Taylor Fritz and Hugo Gaston to meet Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-final.

On a packed centre court, he forced the Canadian top-10 player to the limit. In the tiebreak of the third set, Van Rijthoven remained seemingly cool, while inside his heart probably wanted to pound out of his imposing chest.

Van Rijthoven played to win and was rewarded at key moments. He beat Auger-Aliassime 6-3 1-6 7-6(5) and stood as world number 205 in the final.

How beautiful can a final match be when the local hero takes on the top seed, who would become the global number one a week later. In 2022, the poster was Tim van Rijthoven – Daniil Medvedev.

Everyone was talking about it. Every newspaper wrote about it. Every newsreel reported about it. Could Van Rijthoven win his first ATP final? No, right!

Van Rijthoven did. Full of conviction backed by his impressive service, he left Grand Slam winner Medvedev defenceless: 6-4 6-1.

Like any player after an incredible win, Van Rijthoven also dropped onto his back. Lying on the grass, he could hardly realise what had happened. The dream had come true. Van Rijthoven was an ATP winner.

He became the third Dutch champion at Libéma Open after Richard Krajicek (1994, 1997) and Sjeng Schalken (2002, 2003).

He confirmed his class at Wimbledon by reaching the fourth round. None other than Novak Djokovic was able to knock him off with difficulty. Unfortunately, no points were awarded for the world ranking that year, otherwise Van Rijthoven would have plunged deep into the top 100.

At the age of 28, Van Rijthoven was forced to announce his retirement. An elbow injury prevented him from playing professional tennis.

That book is closed, but the young father will forever be able to read  the wonderful story of Libéma Open 2022.

Fairy tales exist.