New York | Alcaraz crashes out

In what must be considered a surprising result, Carlos Alcaraz was ousted from the US Open in the second round, by Botic van De Zandschulp in what can only be described as a major upset of one of the three main contenders for the title.

I think my level stayed at the same point all the match, and it wasn’t enough to win the match or to give myself the chance to get into the match or try to give myself chances. So what can I say? Carlos Alcaraz

The Dutchman inflicted a stunning 6-1 7-5 6-4 defeat over the 2022 champion who was favourite to collect his third successive grand slam title having picked up the French Open and retained the Wimbledon crown earlier this year.

And it is Van De Zandschulp, world ranked 74, will now take on Britain’s Jack Draper, the 25th seed in the third round.

Alcaraz was far from his best but there was no doubt that the Dutchman’s aggressive net game plan, upset the Spaniard’s rhythm enabling him to take control at the crucial moments while the world No3, already a four-time grand slam champion at 21-years of age, struggled for answers.

“I don’t know what to say right now,” a bemused Alcaraz said following his defeat. “First of all, I think he played great. He played really good tennis.

“I thought he was going to give me more points. I’m going to say more free points. 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, how to deal with it. I couldn’t increase my level.

“I think my level stayed at the same point all the match, and it wasn’t enough to win the match or to give myself the chance to get into the match or try to give myself chances. So what can I say?”

He also admitted that he was in some sort of mental turmoil throughout the match.

“It was a fight against myself, in my mind, during the match,” the Spanish star continued.

“In tennis you are playing against someone that wants the same as you, to win the match, and you have to be as calm as you can just to think better in the match and try to do good things.

“I was up in some points. Then I lost some points, I got down. It was a roller coaster, let’s say, in my mind.

“So I can’t be like that if I want to think about big things, so I have to improve it. I have to learn about it.”

(Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

He also wondered whether his schedule over the past few weeks had been too hectic, especially after losing the Olympic final to Novak Djokovic, one of his main targets for the year.

“I’ve been playing a lot of matches lately with Roland Garros, with Wimbledon, Olympic Games,” he said.

“I took a little break after the Olympic Games. I thought it was enough. It was really helpful for me [but] probably it wasn’t enough.

“But yeah, probably I came here with not as much energy as I thought that I was going to come. But, I mean, I don’t want to put that as an excuse.”

Botic van De Zandschulp raises his arm in a victory salute following the biggest win of his career

Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

For Van De Zandschulp it was the biggest win of his career and a great reward for his consistent and patient play.

Aged 28, the Dutchman who has been having a poor year until now, (and even thought of retiring!) successfully followed up his straight-sets win over Canadian Denis Shapovalov with some intelligent play to surprisingly oust a title favourite.

Van de Zandschulp grabbed his first chance to break the Alcaraz serve and then consolidated his position to take a 4-1 lead in the opening set and within 30-minutes of the start, had pocketed it.

In the second Van De Zandcshulp kept his cool as Alcaraz pressed hard but at 5-5, the Spaniard made three unforced forehand errors and to lose his serve, threw in a double fault thereby virtually handing the set to his opponent who needed no encouragement to serve out!

Now down two-sets to love down, the crowd expectancy of witnessing a champion’s comeback was extinguished when Alcaraz again dropped his serve to go 3-2 down. This time the Dutchman failed to consolidate his break but regained his lead in the ninth game and after two-hours and 15-minutes, completed the upset of the tournament.

“I think I played, like, emotionally tonight, stable,” Van De Zandschulp said in a post-match press conference making what must be the understatement of the week! “Also, during my play I think I played unbelievably stable.”

He certainly showed great stability.