Newbie Van de Zandschulp stays sober after US Open triumph

“I have played so many matches here and have sometimes been on the verge of elimination,” admitted Van de Zandschulp, who recorded his seventh consecutive victory in New York. “But so far I’ve been able to win all the duels here. For the first time in this tournament, I even managed to win the first set, even the first two sets, but I almost got out of the fight. by losing. Fortunately, I won again. “

In his convincing match against 11th seed Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, Van de Zandschulp showed his mental toughness. He won the first two sets with conviction, but suffered a slight drop in the third set as he led 4-2. The late Dutchman responded well in the fourth set, but then left two match points, so Schwartzman was able to force the decisive fifth set. The physically strong Van de Zandschulp was again the best player.

“The vibe was great,” he replied when asked how he managed to sharpen himself at the right times. “It was my first time on this track, it’s my first time here in the States anyway.”

Van de Zandschulp is the first Dutchman to reach the last eight of a Grand Slam tournament since Sjeng Schalken in 2004 (Wimbledon quarter-finals). “I think before the tournament nobody expected me to reach the quarter-finals. They will now be surprised in the Netherlands and hopefully proud.”

Van de Zandschulp didn’t want to think about his next game against second-placed Daniil Medvedev of Russia. “Today I’m definitely going to enjoy this win for a while and maybe a little bit on Monday as well, but then the focus will be all on my quarterfinal game.”