Tim van Rijthoven was unable to provide a huge stunt against Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Sunday. The Dutch tennis revelation took a set against the defending champion, but eventually lost in four sets.
The 25-year-old Van Rijthoven went down with his head held high against the ten-year-older Djokovic: 2-6, 6-4, 1-6 and 2-6. The Wimbledon center court match lasted two hours and forty minutes.
Van Rijthoven had surprisingly won in three sets against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in the previous round. Earlier he also convincingly dealt with the Argentinian Federico Delbonis and the American Reilly Opelka.
Van Rijthoven’s performances at Wimbledon were special. The Grand Slam debutant, who recently caused a sensation by winning the Rosmalen grass tournament, was the first Dutch man since Sjeng Schalken in 2004 to reach the eighth finals of Wimbledon. Kiki Bertens was the last Dutch person to achieve this in 2018.
Due to the elimination of Van Rijthoven, Botic van de Zandschulp is the only remaining Dutchman in the tournament. De Veenendaler plays on Monday in his fourth round match on center court against Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic will face Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals. The Italian eliminated Spanish top talent Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the day.
Novak Djokovic settled in four sets with Tim van Rijthoven.
Novak Djokovic settled in four sets with Tim van Rijthoven. Photo: AP
Van Rijthoven takes second set against Djokovic
Where Van Rijthoven won his last three matches at Wimbledon convincingly, he was immediately broken on the center court against Djokovic. As a result, he quickly faced a 2-0 deficit.
The number 104 in the world recovered with two love games on his own service and had several chances to break back, but failed to take them. In the eighth game, he again delivered his serve and also the set.
Van Rijthoven was also able to compete well with Djokovic in the second company. This time he managed to break with a score of 3-3. Then the native Roosendaler even dictated in the rallies and after a long service game with four breakpoints he surprisingly took the second set via his thirteenth ace.
Djokovic was not upset by this and immediately took a break lead in the third set. Partly due to the large number of unnecessary mistakes (53 in total), Van Rijthoven had little to say and the set was decided within half an hour.
In the fourth company, the Dutchman was able to offer a little more party, but after a second break at a score of 4-2, his resistance was over. Djokovic then finished the job on his own service on his first match point.