France’s Arthur Gea was one point away from being the first lucky loser to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final – but three hours later he was out of the US Open.

Gea, 22, was unable to convert a match point in a third-set tie-break against Dutch opponent Botic van de Zandschulp, then could not serve out victory in the fourth set of a gruelling fourth-round contest.

Van de Zandschulp took full advantage to escape from the jaws of defeat, going on to secure a 3-6 6-7 (0-7) 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 win after five hours and 13 minutes – the fourth longest match on record at Flushing Meadows.

World number 87 Gea was not ranked high enough for the main draw when the US Open entry list was finalised, meaning he had to go through qualifying instead.

Seeded first, he lost to American Nishesh Basavareddy in the third and final round but earned a reprieve when 2022 finalist Casper Ruud withdrew injured on the eve of the tournament.

Gea took full advantage by beating Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Zachary Svajda of the United States and another American Michael Zheng to reach the last 16.

But he could not find a way past 70th-ranked Van de Zandschulp, who said he had “no clue” how he completed a “crazy comeback”.

After becoming the 13th lucky loser to be eliminated in the fourth round of a Slam, Gea will receive $480,000 in prize money – a considerable increase on the $66,000 which he thought he was taking home from qualifying.

Van de Zandschulp’s reward for reaching the second US Open quarter-final of his career is a meeting with German top seed Alexander Zverev.

Zverev, 29, had a rare finish before midnight in New York when he beat Italian 21st seed Luciano Darderi 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to reach the last eight.

Zverev’s previous three matches finished at 1:55am, 2:15am and 1:09am.

“I don’t know what to do with myself because it’s before midnight – I might go back to the practice courts or go to a bar,” Zverev joked.

On whether he wants to play Van de Zandschulp in Wednesday’s night session, the French Open champion added: “I will request the night match for sure.

“I’ve rented this court out from 11pm until 2am for two weeks so I hope they will continue putting me on at [night] time.”

Earlier on Monday, Belgium’s Alexander Blockx said he was “really close” to retiring injured against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo before playing on to reach his first major quarter-final.

Blockx, seeded 28th, fought through rib pain to win 6-3 4-6 7-5 7-5, becoming the first Belgian man to make the last eight in New York.

“It was really tough from the beginning of the match. I was struggling a lot, especially while serving. It kept getting worse throughout the match,” said 21-year-old Blockx.

“I was really close to retiring, to be honest. I was just hanging in there, but if I would have lost the third set, I think the chances were really high of me retiring.

“I’m glad that I kept on playing.”

Presuming he is fit enough, Blockx will play Russian world number 50 Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Khachanov, 30, fought back to win 7-5 4-6 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-4 against 14th seed Learner Tien, ending the American’s attempt to put four home men in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1995.