Botic van de Zandschulp's Epic US Open Comeback
Botic van de Zandschulp walked off Louis Armstrong Stadium looking like a man who had emptied every last reserve. He also walked off a US Open epic, the fourth-longest match in the tournament’s history, and into a second quarterfinal in New York.
Final score: 3-6, 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 7-6(3), 6-4 over French lucky loser Arthur Gea.
A scoreline that barely hints at how close he came to the exit.
From the brink to a second New York quarterfinal
Van de Zandschulp, 30, had already ripped up the script once this fortnight by taking out Australian Alex de Minaur in the second round. Against Gea, he looked finished.
The Frenchman, who only made the main draw when 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud withdrew with a back injury, swung freely for two sets. He took the first 6-3, then humiliated the Dutchman in a 7-0 tiebreak to close out the second. The upset that would have rewritten lucky-loser history was right there for him.
Gea then earned match point in the third-set tiebreak. One point from becoming the first lucky loser ever to reach a men’s singles grand slam quarterfinal.
Van de Zandschulp refused to hand it over.
He saved match point, stole the breaker 9-7, and the mood in the stadium flipped. The Dutchman’s forehand started to bite, his serve steadied, and the pressure that had weighed on him for two sets slid across the net.
The fourth set became a nerve test. Again, they went to a tiebreak. Again, van de Zandschulp owned the big points, 7-3. What had been Gea’s night was suddenly a survival mission.
By the decider, the Frenchman’s legs and belief finally began to fray. Van de Zandschulp broke through, guarded his lead, and closed out a 6-4 fifth set to complete one of the great US Open turnarounds.
“I think this is probably better than the first quarterfinal I made here,” he said, thinking back to his 2021 run. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, but I think tomorrow it’s going to be a great feeling.”
On this evidence, it will feel like more than that.
Gea’s near-miss and a lost piece of history
For Gea, this was a cruel education. Drafted into the draw at the last minute, he stood one point from a place in tennis folklore. No lucky loser has ever reached a men’s singles grand slam quarterfinal. He had the chance in his hands in that third-set tiebreak.
He leaves New York without the record, but with the match of his life on one of the sport’s biggest stages. For a player who arrived through the side door, he very nearly kicked it off its hinges.
Blockx breaks new ground for Belgium
On a day of milestones, Alexander Blockx carved out a slice of history of his own.
Seeded 28, the Belgian beat 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to become the first man from Belgium ever to reach the US Open quarterfinals. It was tight, tense, and decided in the margins, but Blockx held his nerve when it mattered most, snatching both the third and fourth sets by the same 7-5 score.
He now stands alone in his country’s record books in New York, and his reward is a quarterfinal meeting with Karen Khachanov.
Khachanov goes the distance
Khachanov had his own five-set examination to pass. Up against American 14th seed Learner Tien, the Russian was dragged deep into the night before prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4.
He dropped the second set, lost a tight third-set tiebreak, then surged. The fourth set, 6-1, reset the tone. The fifth demanded composure, and Khachanov found just enough of it to edge through and book his place alongside Blockx in the last eight.
Zverev closes the day
Men’s number one seed Alexander Zverev was scheduled to close the day’s play against Italian 21st seed Luciano Darderi, a final act on a Monday that had already stretched long into the New York evening.
By then, the tone of the tournament had shifted again. Van de Zandschulp had torn up the script, Gea had watched history slip away by a single point, Blockx had pushed Belgium into new territory, and Khachanov had survived his own five-set trial.
The second week at Flushing Meadows now belongs to the survivors.
