Tim van Rijthoven awarded well deserved wild card for Wimbledon

It appears the Netherlands might have a rising tennis star. After shocking the ATP Tour with a title win at the 2022 Libema Open in Rosmalen, Netherlands this past weekend, Tim van Rijthoven has received a wildcard at Wimbledon according to Dutch News.

You could make the argument that many wildcards handed out at Wimbledon over the years have not been well deserved. However, van Rijthoven is extremely worthy.

Who van Rijthoven beat in winning the Libema Open was extremely impressive. He beat the third seed and Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz of the United States 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round, second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 in the semifinals, and 2021 United States Open champion and number one seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-4, 6-1 in the finals.

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However what stunned the tennis world is the fact van Rijthoven was ranked 205th in the world at the time of winning the title in his homeland. As a result, he moved up 99 places in the ATP rankings to no. 106. The lowest seeded player to ever win an ATP event was Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Jason Stoltenberg 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 to win the 1998 Adelaide International while seeded 550th in the world. In an interesting note despite losing convincingly to a player that was 204 places lower than him in the ATP rankings, Medvedev takes over from Serbia’s Novak Djokovic as the new world number one.

This is the fifth time that a player from the Netherlands has won the Libema Open (previously known as the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships). 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek won in 1994 and 1997, and Sjeng Schalken won in back-to-back years in 2002 and 2003.

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