NOS Sport•
Botic van de Zandschulp was eliminated in the second round of the Cincinnati masters tournament by Daniil Medvedev.
The best Dutch tennis player of the moment seemed to be able to bring the number one in the world into serious trouble, but jumped far too carelessly with his chances (4-6, 5-7).
Van de Zandschulp loses to Medvedev in the run-up to US Open
The first set was a hopeless mission for Van de Zandschulp after a break in the opening game. Medvedev dominated in his own service games and then seemed to decide the match early when he broke the serve of the Veenendaler again in the fifth game of the second set.
But suddenly Van de Zandschulp straightened up, won three of the next four games and even got a set point on the Russian’s serve.
In a phase in which Van de Zandschulp seemed to be able to turn the game around, however, he missed his two break opportunities and especially his usually strong service completely let him down. With eight double faults in the second set, he gave away the points way too easily.
Seizing opportunities
“Botic didn’t serve very well today,” Medvedev noted. “So I tried to keep pressure and take my chances myself.”
Medvedev defends his title at the US Open, but was knocked out in the second round by Nick Kyrgios during his preparation last week in Montreal. After more than an hour and a half he got Van de Zandschulp on his knees on his third match point.
Greek Rail and Van Rijthoven
Van de Zandschulp will play on the hard courts of Winston-Salem next week, where Tallon Griekenpoor and Tim van Rijthoven also hope to make their comeback in the run-up to the last grand slam tournament of this calendar year.
