Van de Zandschulp can’t give stunt a good follow-up in fourth round Miami | Tennis

Mar 28, 2023 at 9:34 PMUpdate: 12 minutes ago

Botic van de Zandschulp failed to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Masters tournament in Miami. The Veenendaler went down in three sets in the fourth round against his Finnish training buddy Emil Ruusuvuori.

The 27-year-old Van de Zandschulp lost 6-4, 4-6 and 5-7 to Ruusuvuori, the number 54 in the world, four years younger. The game on the hard court in Florida lasted 2 hours and 46 minutes.

Van de Zandschulp started the match excellently and took a break lead in the fifth game. The number 32 in the world continued to serve well and took advantage of Ruusuvuori’s many unnecessary mistakes. That earned him the first set after just over 45 minutes.

In the second company, Van de Zandschulp was twice ahead of a break, but he surrendered his own service three times. As a result, Ruusuvuori was allowed to serve for the set at 5-4 and he made no mistake.

Van de Zandschulp was upset by the loss of the set and fell behind 0-3 in the decisive set. At 5-3, Ruusuvuori was allowed to serve for the game, but the Dutchman fought back and tied the score. Two games later he lost his service game on ‘love’ and had to give in after all.

Emil Ruusuvuori is the number 54 in the world. Photo: AP

Best performance Van de Zandschulp at Masters tournament

In his previous match in Miami, Van de Zandschulp caused a stunt by beating the world number four Casper Ruud. He won for the first time in his career against a player from the top five of the world rankings.

It has never happened before that Van de Zandschulp came this far at a Masters tournament. His best performance at that level was a third round finish at Indian Wells last year. The Dutchman did reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open in 2021.

Van de Zandschulp, who had to give up in the second round in Indian Wells earlier this month due to an ankle injury, was the only Dutchman in Miami. Tallon Giekspoor decided to take a rest and focus on the gravel season.

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