Unseeded Van Rijthoven Wins Palm Coast $15K USTA Pro Circuit Tennis

Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven won the $15,000 Palm Coast Futures Tournament, a USTA Pro Circuit event, in the Sunday final upsetting top seed Maxime Chazal of France on the green clay courts 6-4, 6-4 in Palm Coast, Fla.

Congratulations to the Palm Coast 2018 Singles Tournament #USTAProCircuit Champion: Tim Van Rijthoven ????.

He defeated Maxime Chazal ???? 6-4 6-4.

Thank you everyone coming out to our event!!!! #Itfpro #Follow2fun pic.twitter.com/IDEgdMZABF

— Palm Coast Futures Tournament (@PalmCoastTennis) February 4, 2018

The 20-year-old missed most of last season due to injury, and is coached by former world No. 1-ranked doubles player Paul Haarhuis. It was his third career ITF/USTA Pro Circuit title after wins in 2015 at Turkey and Greece.

Van Rijthoven, who has competed for the Netherlands in Davis Cup, was unseeded and in the second round also upended No. 6 seed Naoki Nakagawa of Japan 6-4, 6-3. In the semifinals he needed three sets to get by American qualifier Strong Kirchheimer. He entered the event at No. 1,314 on the ATP World Tour Rankings.

Chazal did not drop a set en route to the final, in his semifinal rolling past doubles partner and No. 3 seed Fred Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-0. The Frenchman had won both of the USTA Pro Circuit doubles tournaments he had competed in this year entering Palm Coast after raising trophies at Florida events in Sunrise and Weston. He was looking for his first singles title since the ITF Italy stop in August 2016.

The doubles title was won by Sweden’s Filip Bergevi and France’s Florian Lakat, the No. 4 seeds, who in the final upset the top-seeded team of Chazal/Gil 6-4, 6-1.

Check out our #Netgeneration highlights at our Palm Coast Futures Tournament! #USTAProCircuit #ITFpro #Follow2fun pic.twitter.com/PmyPjJ5TPm

— Palm Coast Futures Tournament (@PalmCoastTennis) January 29, 2018

USTA Pro Circuit events in 2018 feature Net Generation, with local children given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in pre-match coin tosses, be a player escort prior to matches, and play tennis during tournament kids’ events and on-court Net Generation demonstrations. To learn more go to www.NetGeneration.com.

For more info on the USTA Pro Circuit visit www.procircuit.usta.com.