Van Reethoven surprises Fritz at Lipima Open

Tim van Reethoven delivered a resounding surprise on Thursday by defeating American Taylor Fritz in the second round of the Lipima Open in Rosmalen. He defeated the Dutchman at number 14 in the world rankings and thus reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Championship for the first time in his career. Later in the day, the Greek Talon Trail was unable to reach Felix Auger-Aliassime.

World number 205 Van Reethoven lost the first set in a thrilling tiebreak, but fought back and won in three sets (6-7 (9), 7-5, 6-4).

It was only the second time the 25-year-old from Brabant had played against the Top 50, after losing to Czech Jerry Vesselo in 2016 at Winston-Salem. Based on his ranking, van Reethoven should not have participated in the Lipima Open, but the organization gave him a wild card. In the first round he was too strong for Australian Matthew Ebden, the 432nd in the world.

Van Reethoven’s opponent in the quarter-finals will be Hugo Gaston, who is 66th. The 21-year-old Frenchman was too strong for American Jenson Broxby in three sets (3-6, 6-3, 7-5).

Greek track loses to Auger-Aliassime in two breaks

The match between Van Reethoven and Fritz was supposed to take place on Wednesday, but was postponed due to rain. In the first set, Van Reethoven forced his American opponent to the limit, but still shot in a long tiebreak: 11-9.

In the second set, Van Reethoven recovered with a break at the end (7-5) and did the same in the third. He took advantage of the second match point and scored his best win so far in his career. In March, the 24-year-old Fritz won the Indian Wells Masters Championship.

The Greek track was the only other Dutchman who was still active in singles at the Lipima Open. He failed in the second round. The 25-year-old from Harlem gave second seed Auger Aliassime a tough afternoon, but lost by two breaks: 7-6 (2) and 7-6 (5). The Canadian is number nine in the world, while poor Greece ranks 56th.

In the Women’s Championship, Ariane Hartono failed to face Arina Sabalenka earlier on Thursday. She lost 6-2 6-3 to the sixth in the world, which meant that there was no longer an active Dutch woman on the lawn at Rosmalen.