Unseeded Botic van de Zandschulp upset world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4, through the second spherical of the 2024 US Open Thursday evening at Flushing Meadows. The heavy favourite had a shaky begin, and whereas he did combat again he didn’t seem prepared for the powerful psychological and bodily battle on this evening.
At 28 years previous, van de Zandschulp has been contemplating retiring as a result of he hasn’t performed properly these days. In the meantime, 21-year-old Alcaraz had received 43 of his final 46 main matches, together with the championship matches on the French Open and Wimbledon. However none of that mattered on Thursday.
“I do not know what to say proper now,” stated a shocked Alcaraz after the loss. “To begin with he performed nice. He performed actually good tennis. I assumed he would give me extra free factors. He did not make a whole lot of errors that I assumed he was going to make. It was complicated a bit. I did not know tips on how to handle that, how take care of it.
“I could not enhance my stage. I believe my stage stayed the identical the entire match,” the Spaniard continued. “It wasn’t sufficient to win the match or to present myself the possibility to get into the match, or attempt to give myself possibilities. What can I say? I did not really feel properly hitting the ball. I made a whole lot of errors. After I wished to come back again it was too late.”
van de Zandschulp appeared to be simply as shocked as everybody else. “I am slightly bit misplaced for phrases,” he stated in his post-match interview, “but it surely has been an unbelievable night right here.”
This was his first ever win in opposition to a high 10 opponent in a Grand Slam, and possibly one of many greatest upsets in tennis historical past.
It solely took Botic van de Zandschulp 31 minutes to win the primary set 6-1. The stats have been displayed at Arthur Ashe Stadium and Alcaraz checked out them in disbelief. He did not get a single winner and had eight unforced errors.
“After all I had some nerves, however I believe if you wish to beat one in all these guys, you need to hold your calm and hold your head there,” van de Zandschulp stated. “In any other case, they benefit from it.”
Alcaraz began wanting higher, however van de Zandschulp continued taking part in at a excessive stage and got here out on high after an hour-long second set. After shedding that one, Alcaraz left the courtroom to attempt to reset whereas wanting like his head wasn’t fairly in it.
The loss was Alcaraz’s third setback within the month of August following defeats within the Cincinnati Open to Gael Monfils on Aug. 15 and the Olympic gold medal match to Novak Djokovic in Paris on Aug. 4. After the match, he was requested if he thought that fatigue might even have performed a task.
“Most likely, yeah,” he stated. “The tennis schedule is so tight. I have been taking part in a whole lot of matches these days with Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Olympic Video games. I took slightly break after the Olympic Video games. I assumed it was sufficient … Most likely it wasn’t sufficient … However I do not wish to use that as an excuse.”
Alcaraz is thought for his athleticism and artistic photographs, and going ahead he stated he might want to consider whether or not he must take extra time without work heading into majors. Regardless, van de Zandschulp’s matched Alcaraz’s power all evening lengthy.
It seemed just like the break Alcaraz took helped him regain some composure. When he tied the third set 3-3, the group cheered loudly for him and his signature smile began returning to his face and he received the subsequent recreation. It appeared he might doubtlessly flip issues round, however van de Zandschulp had different plans.
He hit the quickest serve of the match at 132 mph when he acquired the ace that tied issues up once more at 4-4. The gang began the match favoring Alcaraz, however by the top of the evening they have been additionally exhibiting a whole lot of love for the Dutch participant. In whole, van de Zandschulp wanted solely two hours and 21 minutes.
The furthest a Dutch participant has ever superior in a significant was the quarterfinals within the 2021 US Open. van de Zandschulp will now attempt to take the subsequent step in opposition to No. 25 seed Jack Draper within the third spherical.
