Arthur Gea’s impressive run at the US Open came to a grueling end on Monday when Botic van de Zandschulp defeated the French lucky loser 3-6, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a five-hour and 13-minute New York classic, according to BBC Sport and Tennis Majors. The marathon fourth-round encounter stands as the longest match of the 2026 tournament and the fourth-longest in US Open history.
A Historic Marathon in New York
According to Tennis Majors, the 5-hour, 13-minute battle fell just short of the tournament record set by Daniel Evans and Karen Khachanov in 2024 at 5 hours and 35 minutes. Stefan Edberg and Michael Chang played for 5 hours and 26 minutes in the 1992 semifinal, while Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner battled for 5 hours and 15 minutes in the 2022 quarterfinal.
Van de Zandschulp secured the victory in the fifth set after dropping the first two frames and mounting a relentless comeback. The match point arrived in the third-set tie-break on Gea’s serve, where the Frenchman came forward only to miss a backhand volley following a forehand pass from van de Zandschulp, as reported by Tennis Majors. Gea also served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set but failed to hold, subsequently dropping that tie-break 7-3 before conceding a single break in the decider.
Van de Zandschulp Reaches Second Grand Slam Quarterfinal
Ranked No. 70 in the world, the 30-year-old van de Zandschulp earned his second career Grand Slam quarterfinal and his first since 2021, when he advanced through qualifying at Flushing Meadows before falling to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev, per Tennis Majors. He now joins Tom Okker, Richard Krajicek, and Sjeng Schalken as just the fourth Dutch man to reach the US Open quarterfinals multiple times in the Open era.
“VDZ” earned his place in the last eight the hard way, playing consecutive five-setters from a trailing position. He defeated Belgian 31st seed Zizou Bergs 3-6, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the third round, following a win over Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur and an opening victory against England’s Jan Choinski, according to Tennis Majors.
The Lucky Loser Record and Next Opponent
Arthur Gea entered the fourth round as a lucky loser, maintaining a historic tournament trend. According to Tennis Majors, lucky losers dropped to 0-13 in Grand Slam fourth rounds with the result. The 21-year-old world No. 87 was bidding to become the first Frenchman in a US Open quarterfinal since Gael Monfils in 2019, and the youngest Frenchman to reach a major quarterfinal since Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon in 2007.
Van de Zandschulp advances to face German top seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. Zverev advanced by defeating Italian 21st seed Luciano Darderi 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-3), recording a rare finish before midnight in New York, according to BBC Sport. Zverev joked with reporters about his schedule after playing earlier matches that concluded at 1:55 am, 2:15 am, and 1:09 am.
“I don’t know what to do with myself because it’s before midnight – I might go back to the practice courts or go to a bar,” Zverev said, according to BBC Sport. Regarding his upcoming quarterfinal matchup against van de Zandschulp, the French Open champion added: “I will request the night match for sure. I’ve rented this court out from 11pm until 2am for two weeks so I hope they will continue putting me on at [night] time.”
Quarterfinal Lineup Taking Shape
In other men’s singles action reported by BBC Sport, Belgium’s Alexander Blockx fought through rib pain to defeat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 6-3 4-6 7-5 7-5. Blockx admitted he was close to retiring from the match.
“It was really tough from the beginning of the match. I was struggling a lot, especially while serving. It kept getting worse throughout the match,” the 21-year-old Blockx said, according to BBC Sport. “I was really close to retiring, to be honest. I was just hanging in there, but if I would have lost the third set, I think the chances were really high of me retiring.”
Blockx became the first Belgian man to reach the US Open quarterfinals and will face Russian world number 50 Karen Khachanov on Wednesday, provided he recovers in time. Khachanov overcame 14th seed Learner Tien 7-5 4-6 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-4, halting the American’s bid to place four home men in the New York quarterfinals for the first time since 1995, as noted by BBC Sport.
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