Wimbledon debutant Tim van Rijthoven has been the breakout star of the ATP Tour's grass-court season behind victories in his first eight tour-level matches on the surface. While his Cinderella run ended in the fourth round at The Championships courtesy of Novak Djokovic, the Dutchman leaves SW19 grateful for the experience.
"Obviously a very big match for me, playing for the first time on Centre Court against one of the greatest players of all time," he said in his post-match press conference following a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat. "[It] was for me already a big win, the fact that I was on Centre Court. Really the first couple games I felt that, was a little nervous."
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The 25-year-old put a scare into the three-time defending champion, taking a hard-fought second set by saving four break points to serve it out after six deuces. But Djokovic snapped back with an immediate response, locking down from the baseline to recover.
"I grew in the match, started to play better," van Rijthoven continued. "Actually got the second set. Then Novak did his Novak thing and played very, very well. He had all the answers. I tried to make it more of a fight, but just wasn't possible today."
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