This was not the sort of match that flatters anyone. It was ugly, exhausting and decided by the player who could keep standing after 4 hours and 29 minutes of chaos. Botic van de Zandschulp did exactly that, beating Zizou Bergs 3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the US Open and keep his tournament alive in the bluntest possible way.
Razor shell is the right phrase for it, because there was nothing soft about this win. Van de Zandschulp is now the only Dutch player still active in the singles draw in New York after Jesper de Jong, Tallon Griekspoor, Arantxa Rus and Anouk Koevermans had already gone out. That alone gives the result real weight. In a draw that can eat players alive, he is still here.
Van de Zandschulp found a way, not a rhythm
There is a temptation to romanticise a five-set win of this length. Resist it. Van de Zandschulp did not need to produce elegant tennis for long spells; he needed to outlast Bergs, survive the swings and make the key points count. That is exactly what happened. The two tiebreaks told the story. So did the fact that the final set belonged to the Dutchman, 6-3, after both men had spent almost four and a half hours trying to break the other’s will.
The numbers make the match sound even more draining. Van de Zandschulp had already beaten Alex de Minaur in the previous round, so this was not a one-off escape. It was another big test in a tournament where he is becoming harder to ignore. He reached the quarterfinals in New York back in 2021, and this run now pushes him back into territory that demands attention rather than sympathy.
The Dutch draw thinned out, but he did not
That matters because the wider Dutch picture in New York is already very thin. Once Jesper de Jong, Tallon Griekspoor, Arantxa Rus and Anouk Koevermans were eliminated from singles, Van de Zandschulp became the last man standing. In tournament terms, that puts extra pressure on every match. In emotional terms, it puts the spotlight squarely on him. He has become the reference point by default.
Saturday’s doubles results only underline how busy the event has been for Dutch names, with Demi Schuurs and Ellen Perez beating Jelena Pridankina and Tang Qianhui 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in the second round. But in the singles draw, Van de Zandschulp is carrying the flag alone now, and he is doing it the hard way.
What comes next?
The win does not suddenly make him a favourite for anything bigger. It does, however, make him dangerous to play. A man who has already beaten Alex de Minaur and then survived Zizou Bergs in a five-set mess is not a comfortable opponent for anyone left in the field.
There is also a neat contrast elsewhere in the draw. Alexander Zverev moved through Alejandro Tabilo in under 2.5 hours with a clean 6-2, 7-6, 6-2 win. Van de Zandschulp’s route could hardly look more different. One man was efficient. The other had to scrap for every inch. At this stage, though, both count the same: they are still in the tournament. And Van de Zandschulp, after 4 hours and 29 minutes of strain, has earned the right to keep asking questions of the field.
