After a sensational US Open, in which he reached the quarterfinals, world number 40 Van de Zandschulp received a first-round bye in Chengdu as the tournament's fourth seed and was paired up with Nikoloz Basilashvili after the latter's first-round 7-6 (3), 6-4 win against Miomir Kecmanovic.
Basilashvili, the world No. 145, raced off to a hot start by breaking Van de Zandschulp and holding onto that lead, with the Dutchman barely having an answer to the Georgian's first serve, with just 1 won return point on 18 attempts, and forcing no break points to concede the first set.
Van de Zandschulp's struggles with winning return points on first serve continued in the second set, clinching just 1 of 20. Basilashvili kept piling on pressure, forcing a break point in the first game again and finally breaking the Dutch No. 1 at 5-5, setting up a service game to clinch the match.
Van de Zandschulp had a 30-0 start in the final game, but collapsed and conceded four straight points to fall 6-4, 7-5 to Basilashvili, who continues his Chengdu journey against American Jenson Brooksby.
No more Dutchmen in action
Van de Zandschulp's elimination meant that no Dutch players are active in Chengdu anymore. On Thursday, Tallon Griekspoor fell to seventh seed Denis Shapovalov in the first round of the ATP 500 tournament: 4-6, 6-7 (3).
