Tennis’s most impossibly glorious streak is somehow still gathering pace. Three weeks ago, 25-year-old Tim van Rijthoven had never won a match on the main ATP tour and was ranked 205 in the world. Now, after rattling off an extraordinary eight-match winning run – including five victories over players in the top 30 – he will face Novak Djokovic in the last 16 of Wimbledon on Sunday. Most likely on Centre Court. No, Tim, you’re not dreaming. Tennis’s Cinderella Man really is coming to the ball.
If William Goldman had pitched something so ridiculous he would have been laughed out of Hollywood. Yet the way Van Rijthoven took out the 22nd seed Nikoloz Basilashvili with a painless, impressive 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 third-round victory suggested he has enough heft – and deft – to give even Djokovic something to think about.
