Van Rijthoven Seals Fourth-Round Spot In Style

The grass-court gains keep on coming for Tim van Rijthoven.

The Dutchman’s dream Grand Slam debut continued in style on Friday at Wimbledon, where he took out 22nd seed Nikoloz Basilashvili with an impressive 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 third-round victory.

Van Rijthoven had not won a tour-level match prior to the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch three weeks ago, but the 25-year-old stormed to the title at the ATP 250 event in his homeland with a run that included victories over Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev.

He has maintained that form at Wimbledon, where the 25-year-old is competing as a wild card at the grass-court major. Van Rijthoven dropped serve just once in his opening wins over Federico Delbonis and Reilly Opelka, and the Dutchman was the dominant force again in his third-round clash. He wrapped up a one-hour, 42-minute victory over Basilashvili to set a fourth-round clash with top seed Novak Djokovic or World No. 30 Miomir Kecmanovic.

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As it was during his title run in the Netherlands, Van Rijthoven’s serve proved a potent weapon against Basilashvili. The 25-year-old won 88 per cent (37/42) of points behind his first delivery against the Georgian, giving him freedom to stay aggressive against his opponent’s serve.

After clinching the opening set with a break of the Basilashvili serve in the ninth game, Van Rijthoven found another level as three further breaks took him to the second set. The World No. 104 struck the ball powerfully from deep with consistency, dictating play as a Basilashvili struggled to find his rhythm in the pair’s maiden tour-level meeting.

Yet more sharp returning earned Van Rijthoven a 2-0 lead in the third set. On the brink of reaching the fourth round on Grand Slam debut, however, some signs of nerves began to creep in. Five-time tour-level titlist Basilashvili took advantage of a lapse from his opponent to reclaim the break, but the Dutchman regained his composure immediately, converting his first match point on the Basilashvili serve at 5-4.

Van Rijthoven is just the seventh player since 2000 to reach the fourth round on debut at a major.