Tim van Rijthoven is ready for the US Open. It will be only his second grand slam tournament for the tennis player from Roosendaal. At the beginning of this summer, Van Rijthoven stunted by winning the Rosmalen Open and reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon. Then he started having problems with his back. “I’m happy with how I feel now.”
After a month of forced rest and rehabilitation, 25-year-old Van Rijthoven sounds relaxed when he talks about his back problems and his return to New York. He is clearly interested. “I hit them well in training. I know it doesn’t say anything about the games, but it feels good.”
He played his last match at the end of July. In Indianapolis, he had to give up because his back hurt too much. It is still not entirely clear to Van Rijthoven and the doctors what is going on. An MRI scan revealed nothing and it is not a hernia.
“It now seems as if my vertebrae are moving like a corset, so not separately from each other but with each other. That certainly hurt a lot with serving.”
“I actually want to play at least two games.”
During his rehabilitation, his back was loosened and Van Rijthoven did exercises to strengthen the muscles around his vertebrae. That works, but he is not 100 percent symptom-free. “There is very clear progress and I still have just under a week.”
His expectations for the US Open starting Monday are modest. “I actually want to play at least two duels and the rest is a nice bonus.”
Van Rijthoven is now known as the ‘grass master’ given his successes in Rosmalen and Wimbledon. The tennis season continues on hard courts and he is happy about that. “It’s really hard to say now, but hard courts have always been my favorite surface.”
“All that attention is part of it, but I’m glad that peace has returned.”
The fact that Van Rijthoven was injured also meant that he received less attention. He wasn’t sorry about that. “It’s part of it, but I’m glad the peace has returned. Now I can fully focus on tennis.”
As a junior, Van Rijthoven played in New York in 2014. He was then eliminated by American Fritz (3-6, 7-6 and 7-5). In the coming edition, the Roosendaal tennis player will be placed low because he has not played any matches lately.
“I get on the plane with a good feeling because nobody could have predicted at the beginning of this year that this would be my second grand slam.”
The draw for the US Open is Thursday. Van Rijthoven has no preference, adding with a smile: “I don’t want Djokovic again.”