Thijs Boogaard won the biggest match of his young career on June 10 in ’s-Hertogenbosch, beating Wu Yibing 6:3, 2:6, 6:4 for his first ATP main-draw victory at the Libéma Open.
The 17-year-old Dutch wildcard came through a tight third set by breaking Wu at 4:4 and serving out the match, which lasted just under two hours on grass. The win sent Boogaard into the second round and, after the result, lifted him to No. 632 in the ATP live rankings, a jump of 147 places from No. 779 at the start of the week.
That ranking move underscores how far the result traveled beyond one afternoon in ’s-Hertogenbosch. Wu entered the match ranked No. 101, a sharp contrast to Boogaard’s place outside the top 700, yet the Dutch teenager handled the pressure of his main-draw debut and became the second-youngest match winner in the tournament’s history. He did it without needing qualifying, after the organizers gave him a wildcard into the main draw of the ATP 250 event.
The match did not unfold cleanly. Rain interrupted play near the end of the second set, and Wu used that opening to level the contest before Boogaard steadied himself in the decider. The result leaves Wu out of the tournament and gives Boogaard a much stiffer test on June 11, when he is scheduled to meet Daniil Medvedev, the No. 3 seed and a former world No. 1.
Boogaard has already answered the first question his run posed: he can win at ATP level. The next one is harder, because Medvedev will tell him far more about whether this breakthrough is a first step or just the kind of upset that tennis remembers for a day.
