Van de Zandschulp Upsets Fils at Shanghai Masters

Botic van de Zandschulp just took out another seed in Shanghai. The Dutchman beat eighth seed Arthur Fils 7-5, 6-4 on Monday to reach a career-best fourth round at a Masters 1000 event, per Flashscore.

It is his third Top-20 win of the season and his third Masters 1000 fourth-round appearance. Fils, the world No. 10, is out. Van de Zandschulp keeps rolling on the hard courts in China.

Late break, then the racket flies

Neither player had an easy start. Fils raced to 40-0 on Van de Zandschulp's second service game before the Dutchman erased the deficit and pulled even at 4-4, per Flashscore. Van de Zandschulp broke late to go up 6-5, survived two break points while serving for the set, and closed it.

That late break sent Fils over the edge. The Frenchman smashed his racket and threw a water bottle in despair, per Flashscore. The first set was gone, and the match flipped with it.

Closing the door

Van de Zandschulp broke early in the second, got broken back on love, then broke again and served for the match at 5-4. He missed a net smash on match point, got to deuce with a winner, earned another match point after a Fils error, and finally finished when Fils missed a return and hit the net, per Flashscore.

That composure after the missed smash is what separates a highlight from a real result. He stayed in the point fight instead of letting Fils climb back into the set.

Next is Spanish phenom Rafael Jodar, who earlier beat Jiri Lehecka in three sets. That is a dangerous draw, but Van de Zandschulp has already done the hard part by knocking out a Top-10 seed.

Shanghai keeps dealing upsets

Monday already wiped out Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the day. Fils joining that list means the bottom half of this draw is wide open for anyone still standing. A player ranked outside the top 30 just removed a Top-10 seed in straight sets on a Masters hard court. That is the kind of result that rewrites a whole week.

Van de Zandschulp has been here before at Masters events without finishing the job. The difference this time is the quality of the scalp and the way he closed after missing that smash on match point.

If he beats Jodar, a Masters quarterfinal stops being a career footnote and starts looking like the best week of his season.