Van de Zandschulp beats French lucky-loser Gea in five sets at US Open

Drafted into the final draw thanks to a forfeit after his defeat in the third round of qualifying, the 21-year-old Frenchman (87th) was beaten 3-6, 6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 after a stifling match lasting more than five hours. It is a hard blow for the Provençal, who in the event of victory would have entered the history of modern tennis by becoming the first lucky-loser (drafted) to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam since the start of the Open era, inaugurated in 1968.

The Dutchman, formerly 22nd in the world, had already shone in New York in 2021, when he escaped from qualifying and was only stopped in the quarter-finals by the Russian Daniil Medvedev, future winner of the tournament. Three years later, he offered himself Carlos Alcaraz in the second round. He will challenge the German Alexander Zverev, world No.2 and seeded No.1 at the US Open, or the Italian Luciano Darderi (22nd) in the quarter-finals.

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The match was played in two stages: Gea first dominated the debates by winning the first two rounds, while “VDZ” made a series of unforced errors (87 in total over the match). The match became unbearable in the third set, when Gea led 4-1 in the deciding game then got a match point. But he paid dearly for his risky climb to the net as van de Zandschulp won the next three games to come back to two sets to one.

Another tie-break in the fourth, largely dominated by the Dutchman, then the latter began to succeed in everything, defending like hell after fantastic races. He broke after an interminable game to lead 4 games to 3. Gea had an opportunity to break when “VDZ” served for the match but a final forehand fault from the Frenchman (the 28th in the match) delivered the Dutchman after 5:13.