Dutch wild card Tim Van Rijthoven capped a dream run at the Libema Open by beating top seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-1 in the final at ‘s-Hertogenbosch on Sunday.
Van Rijthoven, ranked 205th in the world, had never won a main-draw match at an ATP Tour event until this week, and he knocked out third seed Taylor Fritz and second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime before his victory over Medvedev in 65 minutes to secure his first title.
“This is new for me, it’s going to take some time getting used to,” Van Rijthoven said during his on-court interview, according to the ATP Tour’s website. “What a dream this week.”
The 25-year-old Van Rijthoven broke Medvedev four times and when the Russian’s return on championship point hit the net, he sank to the grass turf as the home crowd cheered their first Dutch champion on home soil in 19 years.
“Congrats Tim, amazing week. First time in an ATP tournament [final] and straightaway you destroy the No. 2 in the world in straight sets,” Medvedev said after collecting the runner’s-up trophy.
“I don’t know how it feels, so it must be a good feeling!”
Medvedev, the US Open champion, will become the world No. 1 on Monday.
In the women’s final, seventh-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-0.
Reuters contributed to this report.