Tim van Rijthoven reached the final of the Libéma Open in Rosmalen on Saturday. The Dutch revelation of the tournament settled in the semi-final after three sets (6-3, 1-6 and 7-6 (5)) with Félix Auger-Aliassime, the number nine in the world.
The 25-year-old van Rijthoven, the global number 205, started the match against the Canadian very strongly. He impressed in the opening set with his strong serve and struck at his only break chance. In the second act Auger-Aliassime started to play more varied and Van Rijthoven had no answer for a while.
After an even third set, Van Rijthoven got no less than three match points in the decisive tiebreak. His Canadian opponent managed to get rid of the first two, but at the third match point, Van Rijthoven still hit his own serve.
Earlier in the tournament, Van Rijthoven had already eliminated two players from the global top 100. The Dutchman, who participates in Rosmalen thanks to a wildcard, won against the American Taylor Fritz (ATP-14) and the Frenchman Hugo Gaston (ATP-66).
The other semifinal will be played later on Saturday. The Russian Daniil Medvedev, the number two in the world, will take on Adrian Mannarino. The Frenchman is the winner of the last edition in 2019.
With a victory in the final, Van Rijthoven follows in the footsteps of Robin Haase, who was the last Dutchman to win an ATP tournament in July 2012. There are a total of ten Dutch people with one or more ATP titles to their name.
Dutch in ATP final
- 1. Tom Okker – 48 (26 titles)
- 2. Richard Krajicek – 26 (17 titles)
- 3. Sjeng Schalken – 12 (9 titles)
- 4. Jan Siemerink – 12 (4 titles)
- 5. Paul Haarhuis – 8 (1 title)
- 6. Robin Haase – 5 (2 titles)
- 7. Jacco Eltingh – 4 (4 titles)
- 8. Michiel Schapers – 4 (0 titles)
- 8. Raemon Shutter – 4 (0 titles)
- 10. Martin Verkerk – 3 (2 titles)
- 11. Peter Wessels – 2 (1 title)
- 12. Mark Koevermans – 1 (1 title)
- 13. Huub van Boeckel – 1 (no title)
- 14. Botic van de Zandschulp – 1 (no title)
- 15. Tim van Rijthoven – 0 (final to be played)