Van de Zandschulp Denies Arthur Gea Historic US Open Quarter-Final

Botic van de Zandschulp completed a five-set comeback to eliminate French lucky loser Arthur Gea in the fourth round of the US Open. BBC Sport reported that the Dutch world number 70 won 3-6, 6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 after five hours and 13 minutes at Flushing Meadows.

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Gea had stood one point from becoming the first lucky loser to reach a Grand Slam singles quarter-final. The 21-year-old held match point during the third-set tie-break but could not convert it. He then had another opportunity to close the contest when he served for the match in the fourth set, only for Van de Zandschulp to extend the contest again.

The defeat ended an unexpected run for Gea, who had never previously competed in the main draw of a Grand Slam. Ranked 87th, he entered US Open qualifying as the top seed but lost to American Nishesh Basavareddy in the final qualifying round. He was added to the main draw after 2022 finalist Casper Ruud withdrew because of injury before the tournament.

Gea made use of that second chance by defeating Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina and Americans Zachary Svajda and Michael Zheng. Reaching the last 16 made him the 13th lucky loser to advance to the fourth round of a major, according to BBC Sport, but none has progressed into the quarter-finals. His run earned $480,000 in prize money, compared with the $66,000 he would have received after losing in qualifying.

For Van de Zandschulp, the result secured a second career appearance in the US Open quarter-finals. The match was the fourth longest recorded at the New York major, according to the report. His recovery began after losing the opening two sets, and he survived the decisive third-set tie-break before taking the fourth in another tie-break and claiming the only full-set advantage of the match in the fifth.

Van de Zandschulp will next face top seed Alexander Zverev. The 29-year-old German reached the last eight by beating Italian 21st seed Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). Their quarter-final will give Van de Zandschulp another seeded opponent after a match in which Gea came within a single point of extending one of the tournament's most unusual runs.