Tim van Rijthoven failed to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon to get. 20-time grand slam winner Novak Djokovic defeated the 25-year-old Dutchman on Sunday evening in four sets (2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2).
It was the first defeat for the Brabander after eight victories in a row, three of which were on the grass of Wimbledon. Van Rijthoven was the first Dutchman in twenty years to reach the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament in England. He was admitted to Wimbledon with a wild card because he won the ATP tournament in Rosmalen at the beginning of June.
The number 104 in the world left the Center Court after the game to loud applause. Djokovic said afterwards that he was impressed by the Dutchman. “He was on a roll on this surface. He has great talent, great serve and a powerful forehand. It took me a while to get used to it.”
On Monday, the last remaining Dutchman, Botic van de Zandschulp, will be in action at Wimbledon. He also managed to reach the fourth round and will compete against the number four in the world, Rafael Nadal, who has already won two grand slams this year.
Also read this interview with Tim van Rijthoven: Wimbledon debutant Tim van Rijthoven: I was a stubborn guy
Unnecessary mistakes
Van Rijthoven was immediately broken in the first set by the global number three in the world, but managed to fight back with two love games on his own service. He even had a number of break opportunities, but was unable to take advantage of them, so that the first set went to the Serb.
During the second set, Van Rijthoven also managed to compete well with Djokovic and even won this set by breaking the Serb at a score of 3-3. In the third set, however, Van Rijthoven immediately fell behind because he handed in his service game. In particular, the high number of unnecessary mistakes, 53 in total, ensured that the third and fourth set were quickly won by the Serb.