‘S-Hertogenbosch sensation Tim van Rijthoven has announced that he has been awarded a Wimbledon wildcard as he is hoping to take on Novak Djokovic at The Championships. Last week, van RIjthoven put up a stunning run at the Libema Open to lift his maiden ATP title.
En route to winning the Libema Open, van Rijthoven upset Felix Auger-Aliassime and also defeated top-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the final. Van Rijthoven, who was ranked outside the top-200 last week, is now enjoying a career-high ranking of No.
106 in the world and set for a Wimbledon debut. “I have received the wildcard. 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,” van Rijthoven told AD.nl.
Van Rijthoven hopes to play Djokovic
Djokovic is a six-time Wimbledon champion and he has won the tournament’s last three editions. Van Rijthoven, 25, would absolutely love to take on defending Wimbledon champion Djokovic in the first round.
“As a small child I dreamed of standing there and now I am. 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,” van Rijthoven added.
Last week, van Rijthoven beat new world No. 1 Medvedev. After the final, Medvedev was asked whether van Rijthoven can become a great player. “It’s a very, very tough matter because if he plays like today, he is a top-10 soon.
But there’s always ‘but.’ We can never predict the future. If he plays like this at tournaments, he is going to have his opportunities. It’s going to depend on the draw, on the conditions, but he is going to have his opportunities to become a great tennis player. But tennis life is not easy, so let’s see how he handles it,” Medvedev said.
