Botic van de Zandschulp, the 80th-ranked player and the last person to meet and defeat Rafael Nadal in professional tennis, used his tenth match point on Friday to defeat Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-7 (12), 6-3 and advance the Netherlands to their first Davis Cup final by sweeping Germany.
In the best-of-three semifinal, Tallon Griekspoor defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4, with 25 aces to seal the Dutch victory 2-0. Griekspoor closed his eyes, fell to his knees, and stretched his arms wide as it concluded, fittingly on an ace. Also read: Wimbledon Tennis Tournament to Replace Line Judges with AI Technology Starting in 2025
Griekspoor remarked, “We have been talking about this for two, three years,” “We had a lot of faith in ourselves. This always seemed conceivable to us. It feels unreal to do it now. No. 1 ranked Jannik Sinner and reigning champion Italy will face Australia in the other quarterfinal on Saturday. On Sunday, the championship will be determined.
“That top five player isn’t here. That top ten player is not us. Paul Haarhuis, the captain of the Netherlands, stated, “We don’t have that top-15 player.” However, it requires teamwork…. Very proud of these men.
When Altmaier started playing more aggressively and engaging with the German fans more in Friday’s opening match, yelling and hitting uppercuts or raising his arms after crucial points, Van de Zandschulp was up a set and a point from leading 5-2 in the second. Also read: Tomas Machac tops Carlos Alcaraz in Shanghai Quarterfinals
Van de Zandschulp remarked, “At one point, I didn’t know what to do any more on the match points.” “I had the toughest match of my life on Tuesday [against Nadal], so everything that comes next is maybe a little bit easier.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion’s career came to an end in the quarterfinals as Van de Zandschulp defeated Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4, as the Netherlands defeated Spain 2-1.