WHAT HAPPENED: In the tournament’s most stunning upset to date, No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz lost in Round 2 of the 2024 US Open, his worst showing in four consecutive-year Flushing appearances.
The 21-year-old Spaniard was ousted by Dutchman Botic van De Zandschulp, No. 74 in the world, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Alcaraz, who took the title here as a teenager in 2022, has advanced to at least the quarterfinal stage each year since his 2021 debut. Last year, he reached the semifinals as the No. 1 seed at age 20, the youngest top seed in the tournament’s history. Suffice to say, the popular Spaniard has made more than his share of news over the years. But in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night, it was for all the wrong reasons.
Van de Zandschulp was able to show New York his fine form during his straight-sets win over Canadian Denis Shapovalov in Round 1. And the 28-year-old Dutchman has had strong prior results in New York, coming through the qualifiers to play in a quarterfinal match in 2021. But since then, he hasn’t achieved deep runs in majors and has had to play Challenger tournaments to keep his career afloat. There was even talk that he might retire.
You’d never guess that watching the first 15 minutes of the match. In the second game alone, the players got into two extended, cat-and-mouse points with multiple runs to net, dizzy-making lobs and even a tweener. Van de Zandschulp grabbed his first chance to break the Alcaraz serve and then consolidated that break—and very quickly found himself up 4-1.
The 6-foot-3 Dutchman came with a plan to attack the net and he had been successful at all eight of his approaches when Alcaraz started serving in the ensuing game. It was the Spaniard who needed a new strategy and, feeling that pressure, he tried (and missed) a drop shot, donated a few too many forehand errors and, at the 30-minute mark, was facing a set point against him.
Van de Zandschulp kept his cool—he literally showed no emotion—and won the first set, 6-1.
And still Alcaraz kept smiling. Whether it was a who-me-worry bluff or just the sunny Spaniard doing his sunny Spaniard thing, he held his serve to open the second set. The Dutchman responded in kind. But Alcaraz simply wasn’t able to hurt his opponent, with just three winners to 12 unforced errors at that point in the match. The Spaniard dropped serve yet again.
If van de Zandschulp has a weakness, it’s his serve. It’s not a weapon—he had zero aces in his Round 1 match—and his average speed hovered around 105 mph. At the contest’s 30-minute mark, Alcaraz was finally able to break it to level the second set at 2-2.
After a few seesaw games, Alcaraz stepped up to serve at 5-5. He proceeded to donate three forehand errors and, to lose the game, a double fault. When the Dutchman served next, he took the second set 7-5.
Coming back from two sets down is the true sign of a champion. And the crowd in Arthur Ashe was expecting just that. So there was a marked darkening of the collective mood when Alcaraz dropped serve to go down 3-2 in the third set. But then van de Zandschulp failed to consolidate the break, hitting a double fault (his seventh in the match) to lose the game.
To level the set to 4-4, the Dutchman hit an ace (his second). More to the point, he kept up the familiar pattern of slicing up the court with sharp, deep angles, putting pressure on the Alcaraz serve yet again.
And as the match turned two hours and 15 minutes old, the Dutchman had set himself up to serve it out. Would he lose his nerve? He would not. In a minute’s time, he was serving at 40-0. That serve was unreturned. Van de Zandschulp won the set, 6-4, and the match.
In a post-match press conference, a subdued Alcaraz confessed feelings of “confusion,” as well as “a lot of emotions I couldn’t control.” He admitted to assuming his opponent might have given him “more free points,” adding that “I didn’t know how to manage that.” Ever a student of the game, he also vowed, “I have to think about it. I have to learn about it.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Van de Zandschulp advances to Round 3, where he’ll take on England’s Jack Draper, the No. 25 seed, who looked dominant in his straight-sets win over Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta. The Dutchman’s section of the draw now becomes a favorable one, with No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur as a potential threat.
Idman.biz
