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sport">At the Arthur Ashe Stadium, it initially seemed that a combination of fatigue and tension was becoming too much for Van de Zandschulp. The current number 117 in the world had spent no less than 19 hours and 37 minutes on the track in his seven previous matches (three in the qualifiers and four in the main tournament). Still, he won the third set out of nowhere, but that was it despite a strong fourth set.
sport">Van de Zandschulp can take the plane to the Netherlands with his head held high and with a full wallet, he earned about 357,000 euros. Victories over world champions such as Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman made a big impression and will give a lot of confidence. Next Monday, Van de Zandschulp is expected to be number 62 in the ATP ranking, and the only Dutchman in the top 100, among the men.
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Botic van de Zandschulp and Daniil Medvedev
Ⓒ ANP/HH
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sport">Medvedev won the toss and chose to let Van de Zandschulp start serving. That turned out to be a great choice. The 25-year-old Dutchman made a particularly nervous impression, and promptly handed in his first service game. Van de Zandschulp quickly trailed a double break, took one break back, but at 3-5 he was broken again by his opponent.
sport">In the second part of the first set, Van de Zandschulp had raised his level to a higher level. It was therefore also sour that the tennis player born in Veenendaal had to immediately hand in his service game again. In fact, he lost the second set 6-0, a big blow.
Like a devil out of a box
sport">In the third set there was suddenly a completely different Van de Zandschulp than expected, and he again showed his fighting mentality. The man who already lost the first set six times and still triumphed in New York won against all odds in the third set. Suddenly he was serving a lot better and Medvedev was driven to despair in the rally. It was the first set loss for the losing finalist of 2019.
sport">In the fourth set Van de Zandschulp continued to play excellent tennis. There were no breaking points for both men, until Medvedev got a match point at 4-5, but just then the Dutchman showed his best tennis. Two games later it still went wrong. A drop shot that was too short meant the end of his US Open dream.
sport">Afterwards there were immediate compliments from Medvedev. “If he continues to play like this, he can at least make the top 30. In the fourth set it could have gone either way”, the world top player from Russia handed out a compliment.
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