Carlos Alcaraz upset in US Open second round. Here’s what to expect next

Whether you stayed up Thursday night to see Carlos Alcaraz go down in the second round of the 2024 U.S. Open or learned about the upset Friday morning, the result is nothing short of shocking.

The Spanish tennis star was one of the heavy favorites to win the last Grand Slam of the year after having a tremendous season, winning the French Open and Wimbledon along with earning a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.

Alcaraz, 21, fell to world No. 74 Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in straight sets, snapping his 15-match Grand Slam win streak.

Coming in with a dazzling 16-2 record at the U.S. Open, Alcaraz had never been eliminated before the quarterfinals in three previous appearances. He clearly was unable to find his footing against van de Zandschulp, missing shots he would make routinely.

“I was playing against the opponent and I was playing against myself in my mind,” Alcaraz said after the loss. “I mean, a lot of emotions that I couldn’t control … It was a roller coaster. I can’t be like that if I want to think about big things [results].”

So what now? It’s only Day 5 of the tournament, and much tennis is left to be played.

What the men’s U.S. Open draw looks now

When the men’s bracket was first released a week ago, tennis fans were stunned to see No. 1 Jannik Sinner, No. 3 Alcaraz and No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the same half. That left No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the bottom half alone with No. 4 Alexander Zverev — a matchup the Serb has dominated (8-4).

That meant reigning Australian Open champion Sinner, the two-time 2024 Grand Slam champion Alcaraz and 2021 U.S. Open champion Medvedev would have to all battle it out before earning a likely final spot against Djokovic in the final.

If Alcaraz was able to get through these matches, it would have been a blockbuster final between Alcaraz and Djokovic, a rematch of the Wimbledon final and Olympic gold medal match. Without Alcaraz, it will likely be a Sinner or Medvedev final against the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

There is no doubt Djokovic woke up on Friday morning stunned but also certainly relieved to see the Alcaraz result. One more Grand Slam title will make Djokovic the all-time leader in men’s and women’s tennis with 25.

Day 5 U.S. Open excitement

Luckily for tennis fans, Friday is set to serve some more great tennis after a relatively underwhelming Day 4.

The Friday day session at Arthur Ashe Stadium is undoubtedly the best lineup we have seen all week and has fans confused as to why these matches will not be played primetime (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT).

American Coco Gauff will take on Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina at 12 p.m. ET/ 9 a.m. PT. The two have a 1-1 head-to-head record with Gauff winning the latest matchup in January.

To follow are Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe — a mega-match for U.S. tennis fans. This repeat of the 2023 U.S. Open quarterfinals will be filled with skill and electricity as the two stars are performers and have proven to feed off the New York crowd.

Djokovic will highlight the night session, followed by Aryna Sabalenka, a favorite to win the tournament on the women’s side.

The winner of Shelton-Tiafoe will potentially face Djokovic in the fourth round.

Taylor Fritz, the top-ranked American at the U.S. Open, discusses his tournament so far this year and why Americans have had such a long drought at their home Grand Slam.