Qualifier-to-quarterfinalist Botic van de Zandschulp isn’t just a feel-good story in the 2021 US Open. He’s a legitimate power player. The Dutchman sits at No. 5 in the IBM Power Rankings, a gauge of player momentum updated every day of the tournament.
The cool-and-collected van de Zandschulp has gone as far as any qualifier ever has the US Open on the men's side, matching final-eight runs by Gilles Müller in 2008 and Nicolas Escudé in 1999. The 25-year-old broke into the Top 200 in 2019 after winning his lone ATP Challenger title and held his ground for two years. Then he started making moves in the first week of this year, reaching the semifinals of an ATP World Tour event before the Australian Open and qualifying for all four Grand Slams, the only man to do so. (He got into the Wimbledon main draw as a lucky loser.)
At the 2021 French Open, he beat Hubert Hurkacz, then ranked No. 20 in the world, by coming back from two sets down. The win confirmed what he already believed. “I knew that I could beat players who are ranked 20 or 10 in the world,” he said after defeating No. 14-ranked Diego Schwartzman Sunday, “but I didn't do it this often, this consistently.”
Often, the rankings don’t tell the full story. Van de Zandschulp is No. 121 in the world right now, but playing far above that level. He faces world No. 2 and 2019 US Open finalist Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals, a different quality of opponent than he has faced thus far in the tournament. But surprise—van de Zandschulp has won the same number of Grand Slam matches as Medvedev has this year. Which one of them will break their tie? Here’s the numerical good (and bad) news for the Dutchman.
16: Grand Slam match wins this year, including qualifying, second only to Novak Djokovic (25) (tied with Medvedev; Matteo Berrettini has 15 going into the US Open Round of 16)
7: Number of matches won so far in the tournament, including qualifying. It’s also the magic number that main-draw players need to win to take a Grand Slam title. Winning seven matches in a row at any state is a milestone in tennis.
6: Comebacks staged at the 2021 US Open. He lost the first set in all three qualifying matches, the first two in his Round 1 match, and the first set in his Round 2 and Round 3 matches. His Round of 16 match was the first time he had the lead after the first set.
53: Aces so far in the tournament
9: Singles wins this year in ATP Tour events and Grand Slams
48: Singles wins this year overall, including ATP Challengers, ATP Tour events, and Grand Slam qualifying and main-draw matches
70: Winning percentage this year, including Grand Slams, ATP World Tour events, and ATP Challengers. This would put him at No. 11 on the ATP leaderboard, right behind John Isner, if Challengers counted.
5: Points lost on serve in the fifth set against Schwartzman
5: Match points needed to beat Schwartzman.
77: Percentage of points won when he had the offensive advantage against Schwartzman in the Round of 16, 9% over the tournament average and a key to his victory
10: Break points saved against No. 8 seed Casper Ruud in his Round 2 win. All came in the second, third, and fourth sets, which he won.
19 hours, 17 minutes: Time on court at the US Open so far, starting with the qualifying tournament
7 hours, 24 minutes: Medvedev’s time on court at the US Open leading up to his quarterfinal against van de Zandschulp
11 hours, 53 minutes: The difference in their time on court, the rough equivalent of six additional singles matches.
40: World ranking of Reilly Opelka when van de Zandschulp beat him at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne this year.
2004: Last year a Dutchman reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam (Sjeng Schalken, Wimbledon)
Watch: Van de Zandschulp vs. Schwartzman, Round of 16 Highlights
