Van Rijthoven Pulls Off Felix Upset To Reach ‘s-Hertogenbosch Final

The dream continues for Tim Van Rijthoven in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

The Dutch wild card came out on top in a thrilling semi-final encounter with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Libema Open on Saturday, holding his nerve to clinch a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5) victory and reach the championship match in just his second ATP Tour event.

“I’d like to thank all the people that came out today, the support was incredible,” said Van Rijthoven after becoming the first Dutchman to reach the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch since Raemon Sluiter in 2009. “I don’t know where to start. I got the wild card here which was already a surprise for me. I was just happy to play one or two matches at least. To be in the final is just incredible, I have no words.”

Van Rijthoven now faces World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev or defending champion Adrian Mannarino in Sunday’s championship match at the ATP 250 event. The World No. 205 had not won a match at tour-level until his opening-round win over Matthew Ebden. He has also posted upsets over Taylor Fritz and Hugo Gaston this week in the Netherlands.

FOLLOW THIS WEEK’S ACTION

📺 TV Schedule
🎾 Watch Live On Tennis TV
📱 Follow Live Scores On ATP WTA Live
📧 Sign Up For Newsletters

After taking the first set with a solitary break in the sixth game, Van Rijthoven was forced to raise his game again after Auger-Aliassime levelled the match with a second-set charge. Van Rijthoven carved six break point opportunities in the deciding set without being able to break the Auger-Aliassime delivery, yet he kept his composure to surge to a 6/3 lead in the tie-break before converting his third match point when the Canadian netted a backhand under pressure.

“We both served very well,” said Van Rijthoven. “First set when I broke him, I just made him play a lot and made him make the mistakes.

“[In the] second set I was thinking a little bit of course, ‘If I win this set, I’ll be in the finals of an ATP event, which I’ve never even played before.’ So that was quite intense, and then in the third set it was just everything back to zero, and just go.”

Saturday’s win lifts Van Rijthoven 65 places to No. 140 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. Victory in Sunday’s championship match could push the 25-year-old as high as No. 106.