Botic van de Zandschulp has lived through the kind of night that can define a career, clawing back from the edge of defeat and a match point down to win the fourth-longest match in US Open history.
The 30-year-old Dutchman, already a familiar name in New York after his 2021 quarterfinal run, outlasted French lucky loser Arthur Gea 3-6, 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 7-6(3), 6-4 in a brutal, nerve-shredding battle that lasted 5 hours and 13 minutes.
From two sets down. From a tiebreak humiliation. From match point against. He’s into another US Open quarterfinal.
Gea’s dream, van de Zandschulp’s escape
For long stretches, this was Gea’s story.
The Frenchman only entered the main draw when 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud withdrew with a back injury. Once inside, he played like a man determined to make history as the first lucky loser to reach a men’s singles grand slam quarterfinal.
He took the first set 6-3. He silenced van de Zandschulp in the second-set tiebreak, racing through it 7-0. The Dutchman, who had stunned Australian Alex de Minaur in the second round, suddenly looked stranded, his earlier upset win fading into the background as Gea dictated the terms.
Then came the moment.
Serving in the third-set tiebreak, Gea earned match point. One more strike and the story was over in straight sets. Instead, van de Zandschulp held his nerve, saved it, and stole the set 9-7 in the breaker.
The entire tone of the night shifted.
Gea, still chasing history, stayed in the fight, but the authority had gone. Van de Zandschulp, sensing the opening, tightened his game, dragged the contest deeper, and leaned on his experience of these courts and these nights. He edged another tiebreak in the fourth, 7-3, to force a deciding set in a match that had long since turned into a test of will as much as skill.
By the fifth, both men were running on fumes. Van de Zandschulp found just enough. A single break, protected with heavy serving and stubborn baseline work, carried him to 6-4 and a place in the last eight.
“I think this is probably better than the first quarterfinal I made here,” he said afterwards, thinking back to 2021. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, but I think tomorrow it’s going to be a great feeling.”
On a night like this, it was hard to argue.
Blockx breaks new ground for Belgium
Earlier in the day, Alexander Blockx carved out his own slice of history.
The 28th seed beat 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to become the first Belgian man ever to reach the US Open quarterfinals. No fuss, no theatrics, just a composed, high-quality performance in the biggest match of his career.
Twice, at one set all and again deep in the third and fourth, the contest threatened to tilt towards the Argentine. Twice Blockx shut the door, striking late in each of the final two sets to snatch both by the same 7-5 scoreline.
The reward is a quarterfinal date with Karen Khachanov, who took the long road to join him.
Khachanov digs deep in five
Khachanov, the 2022 US Open semifinalist, needed five sets to fend off American 14th seed Learner Tien, eventually prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4.
Tien, backed by a home crowd and brimming with belief, pushed Khachanov to the edge through three sets, stealing the third-set tiebreak and briefly holding the momentum. The Russian’s response was ruthless: a 6-1 fourth set that reset the match and broke Tien’s rhythm.
The fifth became about experience. Khachanov managed the big points, found the crucial break, and closed the door on another upset attempt to book his place opposite Blockx.
Somewhere in that same half of the draw, men’s number one seed Alexander Zverev was still at work in the last match of the day against Italian 21st seed Luciano Darderi, trying to keep his own title ambitions on track.
But the night belonged to the man who refused to go away, who stared down match point and turned a lost cause into a landmark win.
In a tournament that has seen its share of shocks and storylines, Botic van de Zandschulp has just written one of its most enduring chapters.
