Botic van de Zandschulp's Epic Comeback at US Open Quarterfinals
Botic van de Zandschulp walked off court in New York looking as if he had been through a five-hour interrogation, not a tennis match. In a way, he had.
Down two sets. Facing a match point. Up against a fearless French lucky loser. The Dutchman somehow found a way out, turning a match he had no right to win into one of the great survival acts of this US Open.
After 5 hours and 13 minutes – the fourth-longest match in the tournament’s history – van de Zandschulp finally subdued Arthur Gea 3:6, 6:7 (0), 7:6 (7), 7:6 (3), 6:4 to reach the quarterfinals in New York for the second time in his career.
He first did it in 2021. This one will feel very different.
From the brink to belief
For two sets, the 30-year-old looked finished.
Gea, who only made the main draw as a lucky loser after 2022 finalist Casper Ruud withdrew with a back injury, played like a man who had been given a second life and had no intention of wasting it. He took the opening set 6:3, then dominated the second-set tiebreak 7:0, bullying van de Zandschulp with fearless ball-striking and unshakable nerve.
The Dutchman stared at the exit. Then came the moment that changed everything.
In the third-set tiebreak, Gea earned a match point. One swing from a place in history: no lucky loser had ever reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam men’s singles event. Van de Zandschulp refused to hand him that line in the record books.
He saved the match point, clung to the tiebreak, and stole the set 7:6 (7). The scoreline tightened. So did Gea’s shoulders.
The pressure finally told. Van de Zandschulp, suddenly with a foothold, began to lean into rallies, extending points, forcing the Frenchman to hit one more ball, then another. The fourth set followed the same knife-edge script, again decided in a tiebreak, this time 7:6 (3) to the Dutchman.
From two sets down to level. From survival mode to control.
By the decider, Gea’s earlier fluency had dulled. Van de Zandschulp, who had already taken out Alex de Minaur in the second round, sensed his chance. He broke once, guarded that advantage with everything he had left, and closed out the fifth set 6:4 to complete a comeback that will sit alongside his 2021 run as a defining New York memory.
Gea’s missed slice of history
Defeat will sting for Gea, and not just because of the scoreline.
The Frenchman stood on the verge of something unprecedented. No lucky loser had ever gone this deep at a major in men’s singles; he was a single point away from becoming the first to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
He had the match in his hands in that third-set breaker. One more clean strike and the story of the day would have been his. Instead, van de Zandschulp ripped it away and turned Gea’s fairytale into a lesson in how unforgiving this level can be.
Even so, the 23-year-old leaves New York with his reputation significantly enhanced. He entered by the back door and almost kicked it off its hinges.
Blockx breaks new ground, Khachanov digs deep
While van de Zandschulp and Gea were stretching the clock, the rest of the men’s draw kept moving.
Belgian 28th seed Alexander Blockx produced his own slice of history, beating 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo 6:3, 4:6, 7:5, 7:5 to become the first Belgian ever to reach the US Open quarterfinals. It was a performance built on nerve in the tightest moments, Blockx edging both of the final two sets by a single break.
On another court, Karen Khachanov was locked in his own five-set struggle. The Russian outlasted 14th-seeded American Learner Tien 7:5, 4:6, 6:7 (6), 6:1, 6:4, recovering from a set deficit and a lost third-set tiebreak to steamroll the fourth and hold his nerve in the fifth.
Khachanov’s reward is a quarterfinal against Blockx – power against resilience, a debutant against a man who has lived plenty of long days at the majors.
Van de Zandschulp now joins them in the last eight, battle-hardened, exhausted, but still standing. After five hours and 13 minutes of resistance, the question is no longer whether he has the stamina for New York.
It’s how much further this run can go.
