RismadarVoice Reporters
September 8, 2026
France’s Arthur Gea came within one point of becoming the first lucky loser to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final before his historic US Open run ended in a dramatic five-hour battle against Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp.
The 21-year-old Gea, who had never previously played in a Grand Slam main draw until this season, missed a match point in the third-set tie-break and later failed to serve out victory in the fourth set as Van de Zandschulp completed a remarkable comeback.
Van de Zandschulp recovered from two sets down to win the fourth-round encounter 3-6, 6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 after five hours and 13 minutes, making it the fourth-longest match in US Open history at Flushing Meadows.
World number 87 Gea was forced to enter qualifying after failing to secure a place in the main draw when the tournament entry list was released. As the top seed in qualifying, he lost in the final round to American Nishesh Basavareddy but gained entry into the main tournament after 2022 US Open finalist Casper Ruud withdrew because of injury.
The Frenchman capitalised on the opportunity by defeating Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo, American Zachary Svajda and Michael Zheng to reach the last 16.
However, he could not overcome world number 70 Van de Zandschulp, who admitted he was surprised by his comeback after describing the match as a “crazy” turnaround.
Gea became the 13th lucky loser to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam before being eliminated at that stage. Despite the defeat, he will earn $480,000 in prize money, significantly more than the $66,000 he expected after qualifying.
Meanwhile, Van de Zandschulp will face top seed Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals after the German defeated Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).
Zverev joked about finally completing a match before midnight in New York after his previous three matches ended in the early hours of the morning.
“I don’t know what to do with myself because it’s before midnight,” Zverev said, joking that he might return to the practice courts or visit a bar.
Elsewhere, Belgium’s Alexander Blockx reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final after overcoming rib pain to defeat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.
The 21-year-old said he had considered retiring from the match because of the injury but continued playing and secured a historic milestone as the first Belgian man to reach the US Open men’s singles quarter-finals.
Blockx will face Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the last eight after Khachanov defeated American teenager Learner Tien in a five-set contest.