LO 2022: Milestone Van Rijthoven; Titleholder Mannarino starts strong

A special moment for one of the many Dutch assets. Tim van Rijthoven won his first match in the main draw of an ATP tournament on Tuesday. The wildcard player beat Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden on court 2 in two tiebreaks: 7-6(4) 7-6(9).

‘It was a tough match today. It came down to a few points – it is after all grass tennis. It goes really fast and hard. It is very exciting on this type of court.’

Winning his first match on the highest tour level is a memorable moment for the 25-year old from Brabant.

‘It is a milestone! It feels like a long time coming. I feel pretty good and I have the feeling I’m in a nice upward trend.’

For his next match, the centre court is reserved on Wednesday. Van Rijthoven will play against his generation mate and number one of the United States, Taylor Fritz.

‘It’s great that I can play against him. Also on centre court – that’s something that has always been on my list’, admitted an enthusiastic Van Rijthoven.

Mannarino follows good example
Striking enough, title holder Adrian Mannarino set exactly the same score as the man from Roosendaal. The Frenchman also did it against a qualifier, in the person of the experienced Italian Andreas Seppi: 7-6(4) 7-6(9).

To stay in the race for a second title in a row, the 33-year-old left-hander will have to deal with Australian number one Alex de Minaur in the second round, who, like Fritz, had a bye in the first round.