By Erik Gudris | Saturday, August 23, 2025
Photo credit: Winston-Salem Open Facebook
For a few games, it felt like the Winston-Salem title was slipping away from Marton Fucsovics.
Yet the Hungarian veteran recovered in the nick of time to claim the Winston-Salem Open for his third career ATP championship.
In a battle of unseeded players, Fucsovics outlasted Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp to win the ATP 250 title 6-3, 7-6(3) on the eve of main draw play commencing at the US Open in New York.
“I’m speechless, really. I had a long career, a couple of trophies,” Fucsovics said to ATP.com. “Actually, this is my third. I’m 33 and a half years old. So, I belong to the older generation, but I’m still here, winning an ATP 250. So I will keep on fighting. I’m enjoying tennis right now. I’m going to play as long as I can. I love this sport, so it’s very emotional for me.”
The 33-year-old Fucsovics led 6-3, 5-1 in the final before a combination of nerves on his part and inspired play from his opponent had fans thinking they might be in store for a third set.
It was a surprise final in Winston-Salem as top seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 2 seed Tallon Griekspoor lost in the early rounds. That set up Saturday’s final between the World No. 94 Fucsovics and the World No. 92 Van de Zandschulp who was seeking his first ever ATP title.
Van de Zandschulp, 29, after a lackluster first set, made his move late in the second set despite trailing 1-5. The Dutchman moved forward to close points at the net while Fucsovics starting showing some nerves with the finish line in sight.
Fucsovics held a match point on his serve at 5-2, yet he tossed in a double fault. Van de Zandschulp quickly capitalized to break back and later would pull himself to back to 4-5.
Van de Zandschulp broke Fucsovics again when he served a second time for the match. After Van de Zandschulp held for 6-5, Fucsovics responded with a needed service hold to force a tiebreak.
From there, Fucsovics took advantage of multiple errors from Van de Zandschulp in the tie break to eventually run away with it and then the title in straight sets.
At the US Open, Fucsovics will face No. 27 seed Denis Shapovalov in the first round. Van de Zandschulp, who upset Carlos Alcaraz last year in New York in the third round, will meet No. 11 seed Holger Rune.
