US Open: Draper beats Van de Zandschulp to reach fourth round, meets Machac next

No 25 seed Jack Draper defeated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the last 16 of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

After such a seismic victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round, Van de Zandschulp was always likely to struggle to re-find that level of intensity. So it proved to be the case against an opponent flying high on confidence and fresh from two straight-sets victories in his previous two rounds.

But while the scoreline shows a comfortable victory, Draper was pushed much harder than the straight-sets result would suggest.

The first set in particular was closely fought, with van de Zandschulp probing the Briton’s powerful serve with frequent break point opportunities. Draper held firm, however, breaking the Dutchman to seal the first set.

The second was also close, before Van de Zandschulp’s level dropped in the third as Draper cantered to a more straightforward closing set.

“I love the courts here. They’re sort of fast but they’re also slow at the same time and just the energy I get from the crowd and people supporting me,” Draper said after the win.

“This is what the players work so hard for, to come out here and to play in front of you guys so it’s really special to get the support every time I play.”

Draper, ranked No 25, will play Tomas Machac next.

Earlier in the tournament, Jack Draper benefited from the abandonment of Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (6-3, 6-0, 4-0) and won against Argentinian Facundo Diaz Acosta (6-4, 6-2, 6-2).

Van de Zandschulp, ranked No 74, beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov (6-4, 7-5, 6-4) and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the No 3 seed (6-1, 7-5, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the US Open.

New York (Grand Slam), other third-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 75.000.000, most recent results first):

• Flavio Cobolli vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Alex De Minaur vs. Daniel Evans
• Matteo Arnaldi vs. Jordan Thompson
• Nuno Borges vs. Jakub Mensik
• Gabriel Diallo vs. Tommy Paul: saturday
• Jannik Sinner vs. Christopher O’Connell: saturday
• Tomas Machac beat David Goffin: 6-3, 6-1, 6-2
• Alexander Zverev (4) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3
• Alexei Popyrin (28) beat Novak Djokovic (2): 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
• Brandon Nakashima beat Lorenzo Musetti (18): 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Casper Ruud (8) beat Juncheng Shang: 6-7 (1), 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Francisco Comesana: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
• Grigor Dimitrov (9) beat Tallon Griekspoor: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Andrey Rublev (6) beat Jiri Lehecka (32): 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
• Frances Tiafoe (20) beat Ben Shelton (13): 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3