,,We have received the wildcard”, confirms Van Rijthoven. ,,I’m going to play in the main tournament of a Grand Slam for the first time in my career. It’s really fantastic. Unbelievable, actually. Indescribable.” The Roosendaler heard immediately after he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the final against Rosmalen on Sunday afternoon that he would have a chance at a wild card for Wimbledon. So two days later he received the redeeming word.
He got it when he had already decided not to participate in the Challenger tournament of Ilkley anymore. But via another wildcard, he can play yet another grassroots preparatory tournament, now that he no longer has to participate in the Wimbledon qualifier. “We are working on wildcards for Eastbourne and Mallorca,” he says. ,,For Eastbourne I can get a wildcard for the qualifying tournament, for Mallorca maybe for the main tournament. I have to tackle one of those two quickly, because I want to continue playing matches until Wimbledon.”
By the way, there are no points for the world ranking at Wimbledon, because the tournament organization does not allow Russians and Belarusians to participate. That fact reinforces Van Rijthoven’s wish for his draw in the first round. ,,I dreamed of standing there as a small child and now I am standing there. That’s why it would be great to draw against Novak Djokovic in the first round. Especially now that there are no points to be earned, that seems very cool to me.”