Dutchman who knocked de Minaur out of US Open stages epic comeback

Dutch tennis player Botic van de Zandschulp saved match point to avoid losing in straight sets, before staging a huge comeback to advance to the US Open quarterfinals. The 30-year-old, who downed Australian Alex de Minaur in a second-round upset at Flushing Meadows, was on the brink of defeat against Frenchman Arthur Gea but recovered to make it to a grand slam quarterfinal for the second time in his career. Gea, who got into the main draw tournament when 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud pulled out with a back injury, was trying to become the first lucky loser to make a men's singles grand slam quarterfinal. After winning the opening two sets, Gea had match point in the third-set tiebreaker, but van de Zandschulp saved that, then staged his comeback to claim a 3-6, 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 7-6(3), 6-4 victory in 5 hours, 13 minutes. It was the fourth-longest match in US Open history. "I think this is probably better than the first quarterfinal I made here," van de Zandschulp said, referring to his other US Open quarterfinal appearance in 2021. "It hasn't sunk in yet, but I think tomorrow it's going to be a great feeling." Number 28 seed Alexander Blockx beat 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to become the first man from Belgium to reach the US Open quarterfinals, where he will play Karen Khachanov. Khachanov also needed five sets to advance to the quarterfinal stage, downing American 14th seed Learner Tien 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4. Men's number one seed Alexander Zverev is playing the final match of the day against Italian 21st seed Luciano Darderi. ABC/AP