Daniil Medvedev will wake up on Monday sitting on the world throne again, although when he opens his eyes he may think for a moment that what happened this Sunday in ‘s-Hertogenbosch was just a nightmare. Nothing is further from reality. The Russian tennis player was surprised in the final of the Dutch tournament against the unknown Tim van Rijthoven, number 205 in the ATP ranking, who dispatched him in just over an hour of play (6-4 and 6-1).
The short grass-court season often brings surprises, but few stories come close to Van Rijthoven’s epic in his country’s tournament. Before this week, he had never won an ATP match. In fact, at the age of 25 he had only played one and it was like a lucky loser six years ago in Winston Salem.
Accustomed to surviving on the Challenger circuit, he can now boast of a title in a 250 tournament and of having beaten no less than a number one, a top 10 (Felix Auger-Aliassime) and the Indian Wells Masters 1000 champion of this year (Taylor Fritz) in just four days. His presence at the Libema Open came about thanks to an invitation from the organization.
Pushed by the public, the local tennis player did not feel the pressure and faced the final with great calm. Reliable in the service as during the whole week, the changes of rhythm thanks to a great cut backhand and some very classy drop shots bothered Medvedev, without the necessary lucidity to impose his tennis. A contemporary tennis player whom Van Rijthoven had not seen since his time in juniors.
“Daniil, you are a great player and I have seen you play on television so many times… Sharing the court with you today was a dream for me, but playing at this level has been impressive”, said the surprising champion after being crowned in the Dutch city .
His first reaction was to throw himself on the grass with his hands to his face, incredulous at what he had achieved. Later, he kissed the ground for a track and a talisman for him. “This week has been a dream. I must thank the organization for inviting me, otherwise this week I would be playing a Challenger in Great Britain,” he acknowledged. “I want to thank my team for being humble, doing things normally and not magnifying what was happening this week. And thank you all for the support, which has been amazing,” he added.
Medvedev also congratulated his opponent. “Congratulations Tim for a great week. First time in an ATP final and destroying the number two in the world, that must be spectacular,” he said with a smile that spread in the stands.
The player from Roosendaal will achieve a spectacular rise in the ATP ranking starting this Monday. He will climb 99 positions to 106, the highest of his career. Without either titles on the Challenger circuit, Van Rijthoven becomes the seventh to debut his record this 2022 after Kokkinakis, Bublik, Auger-Aliassime, the Spanish Pedro Martínez, Rune and Báez. No Dutchman has been a prophet in his land since Sjeng Schalken in 2003.
For his part, Medvedev will have to wait to release his record this 2022. He also lost the final of the Australian Open against Rafael Nadal. Wimbledon’s decision to exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players from the tournament will prevent him from wearing number one in London. Even so, he will keep it because the ITF decided to leave the third Grand Slam tournament of the season without points as compensation for the boycott.
