Carlos Alcaraz made a shocking exit at the second round of the US Open. He was not supposed to end his journey like this. But the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp had dumped Alcaraz out with a dominant 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 win on Thursday night at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
This result represented extremes on both sides. This is Carlos Alcaraz’s worst Slam finish since Wimbledon 2021 and this also made van de Zandschulp win his consecutive main draw matches in a tournament this year. Alcaraz now has to let go of his chance to become just the third men’s player in the Open Era to win Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same season.
Carlos Alcaraz was Confused
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Entering the Arthur Ashe Stadium as a favorite winner, Carlos Alcaraz seems to have problems with his play against the 28-year-old Netherlands. Alcaraz repeatedly missed the sorts of shots he usually makes routinely. The 21-year-old Spaniard never recovered from a shaky start and made unforced errors throughout the game.
“I don’t know what to say right now. First of all, I think he played great. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes that I thought he was going to do, so I was confused a little bit. I didn’t know how to manage that,” Alcaraz said. He made a shaky start to the match, with van de Zandschulp breaking the Spaniard early on his way to a 3-0 advantage that eventually saw him take the opening set 6-1.
After double-faulting to fall behind two sets to none, the No. 3 seed lost his best performance. The world number 74 Van de Zandschulp came out on top and pulled off a major upset on serve. “I think I made a lot of mistakes and when I wanted to come back … it was too late.”
Alcaraz came in with a 16-2 record at the US Open. He never lost before the quarterfinals in three previous appearances. This is also Alcaraz’s earliest defeat at any major tournament since the 2021 Wimbledon. He has never lost in the first round at a Slam event.
The Dutchman Took Advantages from Carlos Alcaraz
Botic van de Zandschulp was the 2021 New York quarterfinalist. He was struggling with his left foot injury in the last two years. He was lost for words after the biggest victory of his career. This is the first time for the Dutchman to beat a top-10 player at a Grand Slam. “It’s been an incredible evening. First time having a night session at Arthur Ashe. The crowd was amazing. Thank you for that. Unbelievable night,” he said.
Van de Zandschulp has enjoyed a good career and was ranked as high as 22 two years ago. But this win – his seventh over top 10 ranked rivals – is the biggest triumph in his career. Now he can move forward to make another awesome journey in the third round when he meets the Britain Jack Draper.
John McEnroe’s Warning on Carlos Alcaraz was Right
The tennis legend John McEnroe had warned earlier that the door was open for a surprise winner at this year’s US Open in the men’s singles.McEnroe had also previously advised that Carlos Alcaraz would have been better off not playing at all. “Given everything that’s happened, emotionally, it’s going to be a big ask for him to win this tournament,” he told Eurosport.
Carlos Alcaraz was having an amazing time earlier this summer with a Roland Garros and Wimbledon victory. The Spaniard also made it to the gold medal match in the 2023 Paris Olympics, although he lost to Novak Djokovic. McEnroe has seen this tight schedule was supposed to make Alcaraz have an extended break.
Before coming to Flushing Meadows, Carlos Alcaraz also had a hard time during his loss at the Cincinnati Open 2024. He broke his racquet after repeatedly smashing it into the court early in the third set of his surprise loss to French veteran Gael Monfils.
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