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Playing from behind requires a certain mindset, a selective amnesia when things don’t begin well. At this year’s US Open, Botic van de Zandschulp didn’t just survive a series of self-dug deep holes, he thrived.

The 25-year-old Netherlands athlete, who had qualified at the three previous Grand Slam events, did it again in New York. The three matches had a curious symmetry; playing against Tomas Barrios Vera, Ben Shelton and Enzo Couacaud, van de Zandschulp lost the first set, only to win the next two. In his first-round main-draw match, van de Zandschulp dug deeper, dropping the first two sets against Carlos Taberner before rallying famously for the victory.

This was all well and good – none of the players were ranked among the ATP’s Top 100 – but second-round opponent Casper Ruud was No. 11 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and in the midst of a sensational stretch that included three consecutive titles on clay in July. The 22-year-old from Norway won in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbühel – and then reached the quarter-finals on the hard courts of Toronto and Cincinnati – and was suddenly in play for a berth at the year-end Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

True to recent form, van de Zandschulp began poorly, double faulting on a pair of break points to give Ruud the first set. Of course, now he had the Norwegian right where he wanted him – and proceeded to win the second set.

“I had the feeling I was leading while it was still one set all and we were on serve for a long time in the second set,” van de Zandschulp said afterwards. “This [season] is the first time for me to play best of five. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Across the final three sets, the Dutchman didn’t give him anything – prevailing on each of the 10 break points he faced – riding a dramatically improved service game. He was particularly deft at net, following well-timed, aggressive shots forward and converting 22-for-29. There were an even 50 winners, a plus-15 margin to unforced errors. Surprisingly, fatigue was not a factor, despite the fact van de Zandschulp had been on the US Open courts for nearly 10 hours before encountering Ruud.

“I think I can go further in the tournament if I play like today,” he said after the match.

That approach worked nicely in a win over fellow qualifier Facundo Bagnis in the third round, naturally, after losing the first set. Van de Zandschulp had now won an incredible 16 major matches in 2021, including qualifying.

The Dutchman went on to upset No. 14-ranked Diego Schwartzman in the fourth round in a five-set thriller before falling to Medvedev in the quarter-finals. It was van de Zandschulp’s eighth match of the tournament and those points moved his career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 117 up to a dizzying No. 62. He would finish the season at No. 57.

The good news? He probably won’t have to qualify for Grand Slam events in 2022.