Tim van Rijthoven has survived the first round of the US Open. In an exciting five-setter, he overcame the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang. The tennis player from Roosendaal seemed to be on his way to a super fast elimination. He lost the first two sets during the Grand Slam tournament in New York.
Zhang won it 3-6 and 6-7. In the third set, the 25-year-old Van Rijthoven came with his heels over the ditch. He won it in the tiebreak (7-6), his opponent left no less than seven match points. The winner of the grass tournament in Rosmalen was unstoppable in the fourth set: 6-1. In the final set, Zhang gave a slightly better match, but Van Rijthoven did not let the victory be taken away, despite some mistakes: 6-4. He took the win at his first match point, after a game of almost four hours.
Van Rijthoven hit no less than 26 aces, compared to 22 for Zhang. In addition, the Dutchman came to 72 winners. At the important moments, he played his best tennis and left Zhang disillusioned.
Van Rijthoven was directly admitted to the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, by winning the grass tournament in Rosmalen. He was unable to play due to a back injury in the run-up to this event. He last played a tournament in mid-July.