Botic van de Zandschulp eyes maiden ATP title in Winston-Salem with historic wins on Friday

Netherlands Botic van de Zandschulp managed to secure one of the biggest wins of his career on Friday. The 29-year-old had a busy day at the Winston-Salem Open, where he won back-to-back matches to cement a spot in the final of the competition.

Van de Zandschulp first defeated China’s Yunchaokete Bu in the quarterfinal of the competition with a score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Just a few hours later, Van de Zandschulp was back on the court as he defeated France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-5. Talking about how difficult it was to win two matches in a day, Van de Zandschulp admitted that it was a ‘quick’ turnover but expressed satisfaction that he managed to do ‘well’ in both those matches. “It was a pretty quick two hours [between matches] but I think I managed well tonight,” said Van de Zandschulp.

The result was an important one for Van de Zandschulp, who has now cemented his spot in the final of an ATP event just for the third time in his career. Interestingly, both of those appearances came in Munich on a clay court and on both occasions, he lost to the same opponent, Denmark’s Holger Rune. In the 2022 edition of the competition, Van de Zandschulp retired in the first set because of a fitness concern. The final score of the match was 3-4.

A year later at the same venue against the same opponent in the same tournament, Van de Zandschulp came second-best in a match that lasted just under three hours with a score of 6-4, 1-6, 7-6. Talking about his performance on the day in the semifinal, Van de Zandschulp statedthat his ability to have a good service game helped him in getting rid of a tough opponent in Mpetshi Perricard.

“You have to play your own service games really well,” Van de Zandschulp. “If you get broken once, then most of the times, the set is over… Trying to return, you try to adjust your position a little bit, guessing where he's going to serve. Reacting is pretty tough, so you have to guess a little bit.”

Van de Zandschulp’s opponent in the final will be Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics. The 33-year-old cemented his spot in the grand finale of the competition after being awarded a walkover against America’s Sebastian Korda. In a post on social media platform X, Korda announced that he will not be able to take part in the competition’s last-four contest because of an illness. “Hi everyone. Woke up a bit under the weather and thought it was going to be difficult to play today,” wrote Korda. “Been a long three months recovering and want to stay on track. Thanks for all the support and love.”

For Fucsovics, it will be the fifth final of his career. In the previous four finals of the ATP events, Fucsovics came out on top on two occasions and suffered two defeats. His most recent outing in the final of an ATP event came last year in Bucharest, where he lifted the title after beating Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-5.

It will be the fourth meeting between Van de Zandschulp and Fucsovics in professional tennis. In the previous three meetings, Van de Zandschulp had a slight advantage as he emerged victorious on two occasions. Their most recent meeting came in the round of 64 of the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2023, where Van de Zandschulp came out on top with a score of 3-6, 7-6, 6-1. Fucsovics’ only win against Van de Zandschulp came way back in 2022 in the round of 32 in a tournament in Adelaide with a score of 6-3, 7-6.