Dutch wild card Tim van Rijthoven claimed his first ATP Tour title with a 6-4, 6-1 victory Sunday against No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
Ranked No. 205 in the world, van Rijthoven needed just 65 minutes to become the lowest-ranked champion this season on the ATP Tour. He was competing in just his second tournament.
Van Rijthoven, 25, converted four of his 10 break chances and only lost his serve once.
In addition to Medvedev, who will reclaim the No. 1 ranking on Monday, van Rijthoven defeated Matthew Ebden, Taylor Fritz, Hugo Gaston and Felix Auger-Aliassime to become the first Dutchman to win this event since 2003.
WATCH l Van Rijtoven takes down Auger-Aliassime in semifinals:
Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime lost to local wildcard Tim van Rijthoven 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3) in the semifinals of the Libema Open.
Alexandrova takes women’s title
Ekaterina Alexandrova won her second career title on Sunday, upsetting top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-5, 6-0 in the women’s final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
The seventh-seeded Russian converted five of her eight break-point chances while saving four of five break points against her in the one hour, 18-minute match.
Sabalenka and Alexandrova had split four previous meetings. The win brought Alexandrova her first title on grass courts. Her only other career title came in 2020 in Shenzhen, where she defeated Elena Rybakina of Ukraine.
In April, Sabalenka also lost in the finals in Stuttgart, falling to World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Berrettini wins Stuttgart Open
Matteo Berrettini showed signs of recapturing the form which took him to the Wimbledon final last year as he beat Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to win the Stuttgart Open on Sunday in his first tournament for three months.
The Italian hadn’t played since Indian Wells in March because of a hand injury which forced him to miss the entire clay-court swing and, in Murray, faced an opponent whose own injury issues hampered him in the deciding set.
“It was the last thing that I imagined when I came here,” Berrettini said from Germany of winning the title on his return to the tour.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray collided with one of the players’ seats at courtside in the first point of the decider and called for the physio soon after for treatment on his left leg and hip. He took another timeout when he appeared to indicate a problem with his abdominal muscles at 4-2 down.
“This is not the way that we wanted to finish the match,” Berrettini said, and he praised Murray’s history of bouncing back from injuries. “He showed us so many times how to come back.”
Berrettini moves to 6-3 in career finals with his second career Stuttgart title, while Murray is 46-24 in his 70th career final as he chased a first title since 2019. It was the first time Murray played a singles final on grass since winning Wimbledon in 2016.
Organizers investigate Kyrgios racial abuse claims
Tournament organizers said Sunday an investigation had begun after Nick Kyrgios said he faced racist abuse from the crowd in his semifinal loss to Murray the day before.
“No discriminating actions by the spectators are accepted,” organizers said in e-mailed comments. “We have expressed our regret towards Nick Kyrgios and his team and assured that any kind of discrimination is unacceptable. The incident is currently under investigation.”
Kyrgios was given a game penalty Saturday when he appeared to confront someone in the crowd during the match.
“One thing I won’t ever tolerate is spectators heckling and blasting abuse to athletes. It’s been happening personally to me for a while, from racist comments to complete disrespect,” the Australian wrote on Instagram on Saturday.
Reference-www.cbc.ca