In a somewhat decimated top half of the U.S. Open men’s singles draw, a couple of surprising quarterfinal matchups will take center stage on Wednesday. The nightcap features Alexander Zverev and Botic van de Zandschulp, in what will surprisingly be their first-ever head-to-head matchup.
Zverev, himself, was almost one of the casualties during an upset-filled Week 1 of the season’s fourth and final Grand Slam. The No. 1 seed spent nine hours and 26 minutes on court in his first two matches against Lorenzo Sonego and Quentin Halys, even coming within two points from losing to Sonego. Nonetheless, Zverev is still alive — and he played much better throughout straight-set defeats of Alejandro Tabilo and Luciano Darderi.
Van de Zandschulp has been one of the beneficiaries in the weaker top half of the bracket. The world No. 70 did well to get past Alex de Minaur in the second round, but his path to the quarters was otherwise favorable. He also beat Jan Choinski, Zizou Bergs, and Arthur Gea — needing five sets in each of the last two rounds. Van de Zandschulp faced a match point in the third set against Gea in the fourth round before coming back to win 3-6, 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 7-6(3), 6-4 after five hours and 15 minutes.
The 30-year-old Dutchman has been on this stage once before, reaching the USO QFs in 2021 before losing to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.
Van de Zandschulp once again has the odds stacked against him in the quarters. He is coming off back-to-back five-setters and Zverev is rolling.
Pick: Zverev in 3
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.