US Open 2026: Arthur Gea falls one match point short of the quarter-finals

Arthur Gea led by two sets to love, served for the match and held a match point. He is out of the US Open all the same, beaten in 5hr 13min by the Netherlands' Botic van de Zandschulp. No French player is left in New York.

How did Arthur Gea lose that round-of-16 match?

On Monday night on the Grandstand, in a match that finished in the middle of the night. The lucky loser from qualifying, ranked 87th, goes down 6-3, 7-6(0), 6-7(7), 6-7(3), 4-6 to van de Zandschulp, ranked 70th.

He leads by two sets, the second taken 7-0 in the tie-break. Then comes the match point, at 6-5 in the third-set tie-break, on his own serve: his backhand volley stays in the net, and the Dutchman takes the tie-break 9-7. Gea serves for the match again in the fourth set, with no more success, and drops the next tie-break 7-3. 2hr 29min go by between his match point and the one his opponent converts.

The points won tell the story of the night: 208 for Gea, 201 for van de Zandschulp. It is the fourth-longest match played at the US Open since 1991.

What exactly was at stake?

A first. No lucky loser has ever reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, and Gea was one point away. Instead he becomes the thirteenth lucky loser knocked out in the fourth round.

The rest is his to keep: having come for the $66,000 his qualifying run promised him, he leaves with $480,000, and a Grand Slam second week at 21, having started January ranked 241st in the world.

What did Arthur Gea say?

Nothing that sounds like regret. "I'm very happy with my match. It's just a shame I didn't manage to close it out," he said, before looking further ahead: "Carrying on down this road, I think that's a great goal, and it will pay off even more in the future."

He was due to head to China for three weeks. Above all he is waiting for a call: Arthur Fils' withdrawal leaves a place in the Davis Cup tie against Canada. "Playing in blue would be an honour. I don't think it would be too soon."

What about Botic van de Zandschulp?

At 30, the Dutchman is back in the quarter-finals in New York, five years after his 2021 run, which also came out of qualifying. It is his second five-setter in a row, after the 4hr 29min against Zizou Bergs in the previous round. "I have no clue, actually. It wasn't going my way in the beginning. It's been a crazy comeback."

Who is playing the quarter-finals?

In the men's draw, van de Zandschulp faces top seed Alexander Zverev, whom he has never played. Belgium's Alexander Blockx (28), the unexpected story of the tournament after knocking out Flavio Cobolli and then Francisco Cerundolo, plays Karen Khachanov. Frances Tiafoe (11) faces American Alex Michelsen, and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz (2) meets Ben Shelton (8).

In the women's draw, China's Qinwen Zheng knocked out Iga Swiatek (8) 7-5, 6-3. Elena Rybakina (2) beat Naomi Osaka (13) 6-1, 6-4, Coco Gauff (4) beat her compatriot Iva Jovic by the same score, Mirra Andreeva (5) beat Russia's Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka beat America's Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-3.