In 2024, Botic van de Zandschulp considered quitting tennis.
Fast forward two years and the Dutchman has stormed into the US Open quarterfinals after a stirring five-set victory over Arthur Gea on Tuesday (AEST).
The world No.70 came from two sets to love down and saved a match point on the way to winning 3-6 6(0)-7 7-6(7) 7-6(3) 6-4.
The five-hour, 13-minute epic was the fourth-longest match in tournament history and guarantees the 30-year-old over $1 million (AUD) in prize money.
It’s his equal-best Grand Slam achievement after reaching the same stage at Flushing Meadows in 2021.
“No clue actually,” van de Zandschulp said when asked how he pulled off the win.
“Wasn't going my way in the beginning… it's been a crazy comeback.
“I think this is probably even better than the first quarterfinal I made here [in 2021]. It’s been some tough years, but started to play better this year again.
“Hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I think tomorrow it’s going to be a great feeling.”
He denied a piece of history to Gea who was one point away from becoming the first lucky loser to reach a major men’s singles quarterfinal.
It’s the latest chapter in the Dutchman’s uptick in form and a testament to his perseverance in a rollercoaster tennis career that has featured crushing lows and dizzying highs.
Following a disappointing first-round loss to Fabio Fognini at Roland Garros 2024, van de Zandschulp revealed he’d been battling a foot injury that left him contemplating hanging up his racquet aged 28.
“If I have to keep playing with the pain… then there was a chance maybe that I would stop playing,” he recalled.
It was a patch where van de Zandschulp admitted he was experiencing “too many bad days”.
The year before, he blew four championship points before losing the Munich final to Holger Rune, and is still chasing a maiden ATP Tour title.
Despite peaking at a ranking of world No.22 in 2022, van de Zandschulp has since fallen out of the top 100 multiple times.
After the Fognini loss, the Dutchman decided to play until the end of the 2024 season to see how his foot pain developed.
Remarkably, three months later he beat then-world No.3 Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the US Open, after the Spaniard had just won the last two Grand Slams.
And in November, van de Zandschulp wowed fans once again by beating Rafael Nadal in a Davis Cup rubber, in what famously became the 22-time major champion’s final match in professional tennis.
It shows how quickly fortunes can change in tennis.
Underscoring his big-time credentials, the Netherlands’ No.2 also has wins against Novak Djokovic, Casper Ruud and Felix Auger Aliassime on his record.
This year, the Dutchman has rediscovered the kind of form that sent him to the US Open quarterfinals for the first time as a qualifier five years ago.
He’s won 10 of his last 13 matches in the North American hardcourt swing, after making the round of 16 at the Montreal Masters and the quarterfinals in Winston-Salem.
This included straight-sets upsets of No.6 Daniil Medvedev in Canada and No.7 Alex de Minaur in New York.
He’d also beaten Jan Choinski and Zizou Bergs in Flushing Meadows prior to the Gea marathon.
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Next up he faces an unenviable matchup against German top seed Alexander Zverev, who swept Luciano Darderi in the fourth round after coming through two five-set slogs earlier in the tournament.
It will be the pair’s first meeting, with the victor set to face Karen Khachanov or Alexander Blockx in the final four.
Despite the size of the task ahead of van de Zandschulp, the giant-killing Dutchman has a knack for turning up in big matches against top players.