The 75th-ranked Van de Zandschulp, who appointed Raemon Sluiter as his new coach, ended his 2025 season with a first-round exit in Athens, losing in three sets to Stan Wawrinka.
In Hong Kong, Van de Zandschulp was drawn to German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff. The Dutchman got off to a flying start, breaking Struff in the German's second service game en route to a 6-3 win, driven by three parried break points.
Van de Zandschulp continued his fine form in the second set, but quickly lost control after his opening-game break became the only game he'd win all set long. Struff won 13 of 17 return points, 16 of 25 service points, and profited from Van de Zandschulp's seven unforced errors.
His Dutch counterpart calmly returned the favour in the third and final set, hitting six winners and winning 17 of 24 service points en route to a match-clinching 6-1 set win.
Van de Zandschulp continues his tournament on Thursday, January 8th, with a match against the second seed and world no. 11, Alexander Bublik.
Early exit for Jesper de Jong
Meanwhile, Jesper de Jong opened his 2026 season with a loss after Canadian Gabriel Diallo eliminated the Dutchman from the Hong Kong Open in straight sets: 6-4, 7-6 (7).
Jesper de Jong opened his season at the ATP 250 tournament in Hong Kong after last playing at the Paris Masters in October, where he was eliminated in the second round by Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
De Jong’s season quickly got off to a false start after dropping the opening game to Diallo, who didn’t allow his Dutch counterpart a single break point and iced the set with a love game to win it 6-4.
De Jong got after it more in the second set, allowing just eight return points as he forced a tiebreak against an excellently serving Diallo, who allowed De Jong just eight return points himself.
Diallo nearly fell to De Jong after a minibreak that gave the Dutchman a 6-4 lead, putting him at set point. Diallo survived three set points, however, breaking De Jong twice in his last three serves to clinch the set with a 9-7 tiebreak win.
Wild Card Chak Lam Coleman Wong will face Gabriel Diallo next after his 6-3, 7-5 win over Mariano Navona.
