Van de Zandschulp saves match point to end Gea's historic US Open bid

Botic van de Zandschulp recovered from two sets down and saved a match point before defeating Arthur Gea in the fourth round of the US Open on Monday. The Dutchman prevailed 3-6, 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 7-6(3), 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals in New York for the second time.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFuYTyVl5r0

The official US Open website reported that the contest lasted five hours and 13 minutes, making it the fourth-longest match in tournament history. Gea, a 21-year-old French lucky loser, had been attempting to become the first man to enter a major as a lucky loser and advance to the quarterfinals.

Gea took the opening set 6-3 as van de Zandschulp struggled with errors and missed four of his five break-point opportunities. The 30-year-old Dutchman then moved 4-1 ahead in the second set, but Gea recovered the break and forced a tiebreak. He swept it 7-0 to establish a two-set advantage after one hour and 38 minutes.

The third set also went to a tiebreak after both players surrendered breaks. Gea led 4-1 in the breaker and later served at 6-5 with match point, but he put a backhand volley into the net. Van de Zandschulp eventually took the set 9-7 in the tiebreak, extending the match beyond the three-hour mark.

Gea created another opening in the fourth set when he broke for a 5-4 lead with a backhand passing shot. Serving for the match, however, he could not close it out. Van de Zandschulp forced a third tiebreak and won it 7-3 to send the match into a deciding set.

Gea saved four break points in a long seventh game of the fifth set, but van de Zandschulp converted his fifth chance to lead 4-3. He then held twice to complete the comeback, with Gea's final forehand finding the net. The victory matched van de Zandschulp's best Grand Slam result, first achieved when he reached the 2021 US Open quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev.