“It’s not what I’m used to” – Botic van de Zandschulp on Daniil Medvedev’s unique game

Botic van de Zandschulp’s breakthrough run at the 2021 US Open came to an end on Tuesday, as he was handed a four-set defeat by second seed Daniil Medvedev.

Playing in front of packed crowds at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time, Van de Zandschulp put up a solid showing against the former finalist. The World No. 117 came back strongly after dropping the first two sets, but Medvedev did well to adjust and eventually prevail 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.

Speaking at his post-match press conference, Van de Zandschulp acknowledged that Daniil Medvedev’s unique return stance was not something he was accustomed to. The 25-year-old lauded Medvedev’s ability to get a lot of balls back, before adding that the Russian’s strong defense threw him off a bit early in the match.

“It’s not what I’m used to. Yeah, like I played Schwartzman, he was also staying far back. But not like Medvedev. He was staying further,” Van de Zandschulp said when asked whether it was difficult to serve against a player standing well behind the baseline to return. “Yeah, it’s tough on the serve in the beginning, because you think you have hit a good serve, and yeah, the guy is making every shot.”

“When I came in to his backhand, the passings were amazing,” the Dutchman added. “But he gives himself a lot of time to make most of the balls. Yeah, of course that was in the beginning difficult for me, and at the end I started to play better and to get used to it a little bit.”

Botic van de Zandschulp believes he started to play a lot better in the latter stages of the match, but he conceded that Medvedev was the deserving winner.

“I have to say the first two sets went by quickly, I think,” the 25-year-old said. “Maybe too quickly. In the third I start serving better, playing better. I think I played a good third and fourth set. Yeah, in the fourth he served amazing. Yeah, I think at the end of the match he’s the guy who deserved to win today.”

“The whole stadium was incredible today” – Botic van de Zandschulp on the crowd support her received

Botic van de Zanschulp has won over several new fans with his solid tennis over the last couple of weeks. On Tuesday, he was being cheered on by a large group of Dutch fans – donning orange jerseys – who had traded night session tickets at Arthur Ashe Stadium to watch him play.

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The Dutchman acknowledged all the support he had received over the week, saying that “the whole stadium was incredible today”. He added that he was still in disbelief about the impact that he has made, especially on his home fans.

“Yeah, I think it was great,” Van de Zandschulp said. “You saw some Dutch people in there. I don’t really — how do I say it? For me, it’s tough to believe still that I was here in the quarters and that I make such an impact on those people and on the Dutch guys.”

“But, yeah, it’s great that they want to support me here,” he added. “Yeah, I have to say the whole stadium was incredible today.”