US Open qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp has reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1 win over No. 11 Diego Schwartzman at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Cinderella has come to the ball and his name is Botic van de Zandschulp!
The qualifier upsets No. 11 seed Diego Schwartzman to reach the #USOpen quarterfinals. pic.twitter.com/HDZYEFQlhH
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2021
Van de Zandschulp won in 4 hours, 20 minutes and joined Nicolas Escude (1999) and Gilles Muller (2008) as just the third men’s qualifier to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows. He had lost the first set in his first three matches.
Van de Zandschulp was part of a trio of U.S. Open qualifiers that had reached the fourth round for the first time since the tournament began keeping qualifying records in 1982. It was also the first time at any Grand Slam tournament that three male qualifiers reached Week 2 since the 1995 French Open.
The 25-year-old Dutch qualifier had already knocked out No. 8 seed Casper Ruud in the second round.
Botic van de Zandschulp entering the #USOpen
9th year as a pro
0 Tour-level finals
5 Tour level match wins
Career-high ranking of 117
Best Grand Slam result of R2He is now into the quarterfinals.
Never. Stop. Believing. pic.twitter.com/98sCI8C3QV
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2021
It has been a big season already for qualifiers. Russian Aslan Karatsev was a qualifier when he reached this year’s Australian Open semifinals.
Schwartzman, friends with actor Ben Stiller, lost in the first round last year at Flushing Meadows. The 29-year-old Argentine was a U.S. Open quarterfinalist in 2017 and 2019.
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