The amazing story of Botic van de Zandschulp in the US Open

Before you ask the answer is "yes, i copy and pasted his name." I could probably memorize that for a test but that's a tough one. It took me a while to get Medvedev correct and I'm afraid I just don't have it in me to remember these crazy ass names :)

This is a fantastic story though and it was kind of epic to see the Dutchman get as far as he did in the US Open because nobody, including and probably especially Botic himself, expected him to make it as far as he did in the tournament.

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_{I looked for a good picture of him and couldn't find one, sorry}

I am not really a huge fan of tennis but because of the time zones I have watched most of the matches in the US Open and have really enjoyed them. I think that I enjoyed last night's match the most because we have my "favorite " player Daniil Medvedev who is ranked number 2 in the world playing against an extreme underdog in Botic van de Zandschulp (too me ages to type that and i can see the name in the title still.)

The match started out exactly how one would expect it to go with Medvedev dominating play as he sprinted two sets ahead 6-3, 6-0. It appeared as though the Cinderella story was over for Botic but then something just completely magical happened: Botic just kind of found his stride.

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_{Seriously, I'm not looking to intentionally post goofy looking images of him, they just all look like that}

Point after point went his way in the 3rd set and on multiple occasions he aced the world's number 2 seed so profoundly that Medvedev didn't even have a chance to move his feet or attempt to react. I suppose you could suggest that Medvedev already had a comfortable lead and wasn't trying as hard as he can but I don't think that he is that type of person. I think the Botic was genuinely outplaying him and it was quite the spectacle. The crowd was definitely behind him as well as the crowd had to be asked to pipe down by the official multiple times.

He ended up winning the 3rd set quite convincingly 6 games to 4 and looked like he was going to make this go the distance as he forced the 4th set to a 7-5 that really looked like it could have done either way. It was a little disappointing that the game losing shot was Botic hitting the ball into the net.

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In the end Botic earned a lot of respect from the tennis world yesterday and with his performance in this tournament he has made his way to the world's stage if he can keep up this form. Getting this far in the tournament has propelled him into the top 100 for the first time in his career since turning pro 6 years ago.

Now here is where the fun really begins in my mind: His career earnings up until this point is around $480,000 and it is only because of his endorsement deal with Lacoste that he makes a reasonable living - if it weren't for that there is a good chance that you know quite a few people that make more money than a professional tennis player.

The super special news is that LOSING yesterday to Medvedev has nearly doubled his career earnings in just one day. The big events like the US Open pay considerably more than the other types of tournaments that he is invited to or participates in and while I am sure he would have rather kept going and actually made it past Medvedev we gotta kind of respect the fact that there is a reason why the Russian is ranked number 2 in the world.

I'm happy for the dude, this was a massive chance for him and now he is on the world's stage and will likely be focused on a great deal due to how he performed. He got his shot and he didn't blow it. I, like many other people out there, will be looking for him to excel in the future.