The China Mail - Van Rijthoven topples Medvedev in s-Hertogenbosch for first title

The 25-year-old Dutchhman, ranked 205th in the world, took 1hr 5min to crush the Russian who, despite the loss, will return to number one in ATP rankings on Monday.

Van Rijthoven, who was invited into the Dutch event as a wild card, had spent this season, like most of his career, on the second tier Challenger Tour.

"Last time I saw him was in juniors," said Medvedev said ahead of the final. "Probably we saw each other last when we were 18 years old."

Van Rijthoven fell in the qualifying rounds of this year's first two majors, but he is the only one of Sunday's singles finalists in 's-Hertogenbosch eligible to play at Wimbledon.

Medvedev and the two women's finalists, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Russian Ekaterina Sabalenka, are banned from the grass-court major following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, world number 30 Alexandrova sprung a surprise by beating top seed Sabalenka 7-5, 6-0.

It is only the Russian's second career title following her win in Shenzhen in 2020.

Sabalenka, ranked sixth in the world and a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, led 5-4 in the first set before her game imploded.

The Belarusian conceded nine games in a row, coughing up 31 unforced errors. Alexandrova, 27, closed out the match with her best weapon, two service winners and an ace.

V.Fan--ThChM