Botic van de Zandschulp is once again enjoying one of the best runs of his career at the US Open, where he is into the quarter-finals in New York for the second time.
The Dutchman has won consecutive five-set matches against Zizou Bergs and Arthur Gea and has also upset Top-10 star Alex de Minaur at Flushing Meadows. Ahead of his upcoming clash with top seed Alexander Zverev, ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the 30-year-old.
Loves the big stage in the United States
Van de Zandschulp is no stranger to delivering on the biggest stage in the United States in recent years. In 2024 in New York, the Dutchman earned a seismic win when he upset Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in the second round. Six months later, Van de Zandschulp then shocked Novak Djokovic at the same stage in Indian Wells. During the North American hard-court swing this season, he has earned two more Top-10 victories against Daniil Medvedev in Montreal and De Minaur in New York.
Into his second major QF
Van de Zandschulp booked his spot in his second Slam quarter-final after saving a match point in his five-hour, 13-minute epic fourth-round win against French lucky loser Gea on Monday night.
The last time the Dutchman reached this stage at a major was in 2021, when he came through qualifying in a dream debut run at the US Open. He beat Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman in the main draw and also earned a win against a then-18-year-old Ben Shelton in the second round of qualifying. Daniil Medvedev stopped Van de Zandschulp’s run in 2021 and the 30-year-old will be hoping to go one step further when he meets Zverev.
Late bloomer
The year 2021 was an important one in Van de Zandschulp’s career. The Dutchman made his major main draw debut at the start of that season at the Australian Open after coming through qualifying and then won matches at Roland Garros and Wimbledon before his US Open run.
Aged 25 at the time, Van de Zandschulp started the season just three spots below his career high of No. 156 in the PIF ATP Rankings but ended the year comfortably inside the Top 100 at No. 57. He had never even won a tour-level match before the 2021 season when he was aged 25 but suddenly found his groove in his mid-20s and soared to his career-high No. 22 by August 2022, aged 26.
Nadal’s final opponent
Rafael Nadal ended his historic career at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga in 2024 and his last ever opponent was Van de Zandschulp, who scored a 6-4, 6-4 win against the 22-time major champion to help the Netherlands record a 2-1 win against Spain.
“In the beginning, I think we were both nervous,” said Van de Zandschulp after his singles win against Nadal. “The first set didn’t go too smoothly, the crowd was tough, understandably. That’s what it’s like to play in Spain against Rafa. He’s the biggest sportsman that [has] ever lived here in Spain. It was a really special event."
Back inside the Top 40 in the Live Rankings
Van de Zandschulp arrived at this year’s US Open holding a 21-18 record on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, but has started to find top gear again in the past month.
The 30-year-old reached the fourth round at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal and the quarters in Winston-Salem. His latest run in New York has propelled him up 30 spots to No. 40 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
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