Tim van Rijthoven understands why people can describe his breakout grass court season as a “fairy tale” that “came out of nowhere”; he did after all storm to a maiden ATP title ranked outside the top 200 just four weeks ago, and has now reached the Wimbledon fourth round as a wild card.

The 25-year-old Dutchman is enjoying a sensational Grand Slam debut at these Championships, and will be looking to extend his eight-match winning streak when he takes on defending champion Novak Djokovic in the last 16 on Sunday.

“Before the tournament started, it was a dream for me to play him basically. So to be able to have that chance and to maybe even play on Centre Court or Court 1 is beautiful and magical,” Van Rijthoven said on Friday following his straight-sets dismissal of No.22 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.

“I go into every match thinking I can win the match. Also against Djokovic I'll go into that match thinking I can win that match.”

Van Rijthoven has every reason to believe in his chances.

When he started his campaign at his home tournament in s-Hertogenbosch last month, he was playing just the second ATP main draw of his career and first since 2016.

A week later, he was lifting the trophy after defeating current world No.1 Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the final. Van Rijthoven also claimed wins over world No.14 Taylor Fritz, No.66 ranked Hugo Gaston and world No.9 Felix Auger-Aliassime en route to the final.

“You destroyed the No.2 in the world in straight sets in the final, so I think it must be a good feeling,” joked Medvedev during the trophy ceremony.

When he won his semi-final against Auger-Aliassime, Van Rijthoven emailed Wimbledon to see if they’d give him a wild card, an idea he got from Dutch former player Raemon Sluiter.

Wimbledon responded by giving him an invitation to compete in the main draw and their decision was validated by his run to the second week, which saw him upset No.15 seed Reilly Opelka before his success over Basilashvili.

“From the outside it obviously looks like a fairy tale because it came out of nowhere for a lot of people. Also, the ATP title for me came out of nowhere because I didn't even win a Challenger title before. Played some finals. The level there is just also very high,” said Van Rijthoven on Friday.

“But it's basically a sum-up of a lot of hard work, a lot of belief, and eventually very positive vibes just going into matches and going into practices.”

It’s remarkable to see how Van Rijthoven has been able to back up all these wins. The world No.104 has battled past a string of injuries since he was 18 years old, keeping the faith he would one day achieve what he is experiencing right now.

“They took about three years. There were three major injuries. I had a wrist surgery. I had an artery surgery, I think you call it. The other one wasn't a surgery, but it just took nine months to heal. That was an elbow. They call it a golfer's elbow. I got it while playing tennis,” he added with a smile.

At Wimbledon this Fortnight, Van Rijthoven has been broken just three times in 51 service games and leads the men’s field with a 90 per cent success rate on points behind the first serve.

“For me the serve I think is working fantastic,” he said ahead of his clash with Djokovic.

“I've only been broken the last, let's say, eight matches a couple times. So, yeah, I think because of the serve I can just set up my game very well.

“I like to play aggressive, like to play a lot of forehands, also like to use my slice. I think all those things are very nice to have on grass.”

He admits he never thought he’d start his ATP career by winning eight matches in a row, adding: “I'm just kind of riding the wave right now, see where it ends.”

Van Rijthoven isn’t the only Dutchman to advance to the second week this Fortnight. He is joined in the fourth round by No.21 seed Botic van de Zandschulp, who faces Rafael Nadal for a place in the quarter-finals.

“I think the Dutch people are very positive about what's happening right now. They are just very happy that they can look after another player besides [Tallon] Griekspoor and Van de Zandschulp, which they also love to watch, because I also love to watch them,” he said.

“Now they have three players to watch out for, which I think they're very grateful for.”

Although he was virtually unknown to the tennis masses up until a month ago, Djokovic seems to know everything there is to know about Van Rijthoven, and is bracing himself for a tricky encounter.

Djokovic knows Van Rijthoven’s coach, former world No.52 Igor Sijsling, well and they’ve crossed paths already at The Championships this year.

“I've watched him play here couple of matches and also in Netherlands where he won his ATP tournament. Of course, he's one of the talks of the tournament here,” said Djokovic.

“Generally on the grass court season he still hasn't lost a match. It's quite impressive for somebody that hasn't been ranked that high, hasn't won an ATP match before that 's-Hertogenbosch tournament.

“It's quite impressive the way he has won; also against Medvedev in the finals quite comfortably.

“I'll do my analysis of him, and hopefully I can kind of start off the way I did in last few matches.”

Sijsling, who began working with Van Rijthoven earlier this season, has a great relationship with his charge, who says they clicked immediately and they share several common interests, particularly golf.

In an interview with atptour.com, Van Rijthoven describes himself as a “golf addict” and has a dream to open a restaurant, one that would serve noodles, his favourite dish.

For now, he can focus on strawberries and cream as the Wimbledon crowd get ready to revive their famous ‘Come on, Tim’ cheer; not for Tim Henman, but for man of the hour Tim van Rijthoven.

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