Tim van Rijthoven, darling of 2022 grass swing, "forced" to retire at 28 with elbow injury

During the 2022 season, Tim van Rijthoven emerged as the breakout performer of the grass-court swing.

Three years later at the age of 28, the Dutchman has been forced to cut his career far too short.

Revealing the news on his Instagram account Tuesday, van Rijthoven shared that the persistent elbow injury he had hoped to overcome proved insurmountable.

“With a heavy heart, I have to share something today that I have been trying to process for a long time: My professional tennis career is forced to end. Due to a stubborn elbow injury that, despite all the rehabilitation and medical journeys, fails to recover, I am forced to say goodbye to the sport I’ve lived my entire life,” he wrote in a translated post.

“I would have liked to see it differently. I would have liked to say goodbye on my own terms, with a racquet in hand and the audience in the stands. But sometimes the body decides differently than the head.”

Van Rijthoven memorably triumphed on home soil at the 2022 Libema Open in 's-Hertogenbosch. As a wild card, he knocked off three Top 20 players that culminated with upstaging second-ranked Daniil Medvedev in the championship match.

That run of form carried through to a sparkling major debut. Van Rijthoven more than lived up to his wild card selection, ousting 15th seed Reilly Opelka and 22^nd seed Nikoloz Basilashvili en route to the round of 16. That effort led to the Roosendaal native taking Centre Court to face Novak Djokovic in an eventual four-set defeat.

“What happened the last couple weeks will stay with me for the rest of my life,” he reflected at the time.

A US Open debut the following month saw van Rijthoven produce a stunning comeback when he saved seven match points to rally from two sets down against Zhang Zhizhen—in what would ultimately be the lone five-set match of his career.

I would have liked to see it differently. I would have liked to say goodbye on my own terms, with a racquet in hand and the audience in the stands. But sometimes the body decides differently than the head.

Before van Rijthoven’s elbow woes took over, a back problem kept him off the tour for nine months. He peaked at No. 101 in the ATP rankings, though like everyone else who performed well at 2022 Wimbledon, was not awarded points due to the ban of Russian and Belarusian competitors at that edition.

“I look back with an incredible amount of pride and gratitude,” he said.

“I want to thank everyone who supported me on this journey: my family, team, coaches, physios, sponsors and fans. I don't know exactly what will happen next, but I do know that my heart will always stay with tennis.”

Van Rijthoven made two appearances with his protected ranking in 2025, falling in the opening round of both Australian Open and Roland Garros qualifying.