Fourth Time Is The Charm For Van De Zandschulp To Reach Rotterdam Last Eight

Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp
Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp (photo: ABN-Amro Open/Alyssa van Heyst)

ROTTERDAM/WASHINGTON, February 12, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Botic van de Zandschulp cuts as stoic a figure as any player on the ATP Tour today. So, it should come as no surprise that when the Dutch No. 2 upset 2022 ABN-Amro Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Rotterdam Ahoy Thursday afternoon, he would pull off the surprise victory without showing great emotion.

However, make no mistake, the 65th-ranked van de Zandschulp was motivated to win the second-round match. After there’s nothing better than winning on home soil.

The 30-year-old native of Wageningen, a historic city situated in the central Netherlands, defeated No. 32 Tstitsipas from Greece, 6-4, 7-6 (4), in one hour and 49 minutes. Van de Zandschulp closed out his fifth win of the season and reached the last eight in Rotterdam for the first time after winning a 12-shot rally on match point during a second-set tie-break.

Previously, van de Zandschulp, who stands tall – 6-feet-3-inches (191 cm) – and swings a big racquet, had gone as far as the second round four times. But he never cracked the quarterfinal line-up until now. This time, van de Zandschulp held his nerve when it mattered most. He won the last three points of the tie-break and was rewarded with his first career win over Tsitsipas in three career meetings.

Van de Zandschulp bested Tsitsipas by winning 78 percent (39 of 50) of his first-serve points and backed it up by taking 54 percent (14 of 26) of the points played on his second served. He struck 21 winners, broke Tstitsipas’ serve twice and took advantage of 30 unforced errors by the Greek star. Van de Zandschulp outpointed Tsitsipas 88-73.

“Unbelievable feeling,” van de Zandschulp said during his on-court interview when asked what winning in his home country meant to him. “It’s about time after getting to the second round [four times]. I think I showed great tennis. When it mattered, I played quite well. After a tough start in the first, I think I came back strong and kept that level until the end of the match.”

When told that he looked motivated on the court – as in meaning business – van de Zandschulp quipped: “Yeah, I think when somebody is telling me this, I’m doing a good job. Sometimes, I can be a little bit flat on court. Today, I was tough – and it’s always fun playing in front of your own people. It’s been a great day.”

Now, Van de Zandschulp joins No. 7 seed and Dutch No. 1 Tallon Griekspoor, ranked No. 27, as just the third Dutch duo to reach the Rotterdam quarterfinals this century, after Raemon Sluiter and Sjeng Schalken in 2003 and Griekspoor and Gijs Brouwer in 2023. The loss by Tsitsipas denied  him his 50th career hard-court quarterfinal. Sluiter is van de Zandschulp’s coach.

De Minaur reaches Rotterdam quarterfinals for fifth straight year

On Friday, van de Zandschulp will face World No. 8 and this year’s top seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, who advanced with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over 106th-ranked wild card Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on Centre Court. It’s the fifth consecutive year that de Minaur has reached the Rotterdam quarterfinals – equaling the record held by Roger Federer (2002-05) – and it marked the final appearance at Rotterdam Ahoy for the 2015 champion Wawrinka, who received an appreciated ovation from the Dutch fans at the end of the one-hour, nine-minute match. He spoke briefly to the crowd and thanked them.

De Minaur, who has been a finalist in each of the past two Rotterdam events, closed out the second-round victory with a fifth-shot backhand winner up the line to reach his 59th tour-level quarterfinal. It was one of 11 winners that he struck on the afternoon against Wawrinka.

The Sydneysider dropped just seven points on his first serve, winning 79 percent (22 of 29) of them. He converted four of six break-points against the Swiss star and outpointed him 59-41. Wawrinka committed 30 unforced errors and was able to win just 58 percent (15 of 26) of his first-serve points.

De Minaur owns the most ATP 500 wins since the star at of the 2023 season (50) and most wins in Rotterdam among this year’s field (15). He improved to 15-0 versus players ranked outside the Top 20 since losing to No. 91 Rafael Collignon of Belgium in Davis Cup play last September. De Minaur is also 14-2 in matches played in the Netherlands since the start of the 2024 season. 

Meanwhile, Wawrinka was denied in his quest to reach his 113th tour-level quarterfinal – and first one since Stockholm last year. He’s now 63-107 versus Top-10 opponents. 

Around the Rotterdam Ahoy

• World No. 6 and second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada headlined Thursday’s evening session on Centre Court against 79th-ranked lucky loser Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia – and, together, they put on a highly entertaining match in front of a large crowd. The 2022 Rotterdam champion Auger-Aliassime extended his current winning streak to six, which began last week during a title run at Montpellier, with a 6-4, 6-4 victory that was completed in one hour and 30 minutes.

At 4-all in the second set, Auger-Aliassime strung together five-straight points from 0-40 down to break Medjedovic’s serve, then served out his seventh victory of the season to advance to the quarterfinals. He closed out the win with a solid ace – his ninth – that was hit up the middle. The Canadian No. 1 struck 18 winners overall and outpointed Medjedovic 65-57.

 Next, Auger-Aliassime will face World No. 27 and seventh seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands to kick off the Friday evening session.

• No. 36 Ugo Humbert of France eliminated 169th-ranked Dutch wild card Guy Den Ouden, 6-4, 6-3, in an hour and 20 minutes on Court 1 to advance to the quarterfinal round against 119th-ranked Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell. Humbert backed up his first-round upset of World No. 11 and fourth seed Daniil Medvedev by converted four of four break points against Den Ouden and took advantage of 33 unforced errors. He outpointed his opponent 62-47. Den Ouden was one of six Dutch players who began the week in the 32-player main draw. Now, there are just two remaining.

• No. 37 Jaume Munar of Spain reached his 22nd career ATP Tour quarterfinal – his fourth above the ATP 250 level – after upsetting World No. 18 and fifth seed Karen Khachanov of Russia, 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-3, in two hours and 32 minutes on Centre Court. It was Munar’s second Top-20 win of the season and he did it by winning 88 percent (43 of 49) of his first-serve points, hitting 38 winners, and outpointing his opponent 97-94. He broke Khachanov for the only time in the match to go ahead 5-3 and served out his fifth win of the season. 

On Friday, Munar will face either World No. 10 and third seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan or No. 82 Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, who played later Thursday night.

• In doubles, qualifiers Ray Ho of Taiwan and Hendrik Jebens of Germany advanced to the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and David Pel of the Netherlands. Next, they will face No. 1 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia, who beat wild cards Vasil Kirkov of the United States and Bart Stevens of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 10-6.

Also, German duo Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner, finalists last week in Montpellier, advanced to the semifinals after defeating Francisco Cabral of Portugal and Lukas Miedler of Austria, 7-5, 6-4. They will face the winner of Friday’s quarterfinals pitting Sander Gille of Belgium and Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands against No. 4 seeds Simone Bolelli and Andreas Vavassori of Italy.

Thursday’s ABN-Amro Open results

Friday’s ABN-Amro Open order of play

By the numbers

Alex de Minaur (2022-26) and Roger Federer (2001-05) are the only players in the history of the ABN-Amro Open to reach the quarterfinals in five consecutive years.

“Quotable …”

“I’m only 25; I definitely still have the legs to play two weeks in a row. Okay, maybe in ten years that’ll be different, but right now it’s no problem.”

– No. 2 seed and 2022 Rotterdam champion Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, during his on-court interview Wednesday after defeating Alexei Popyrin of Australia. The World No. 6 won the Open Occitanie title last Sunday in Montpellier.

 

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