In what is without a doubt one of the biggest, if not the biggest, tennis upset of the year–Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz has just been eliminated from the US Open by World #74 Botic Van de Zandschulp. The Dutch was a former quarterfinalist at this tournament (2021) and had previously shown the ability to bother the top players, but he had never looked capable of produce a win of his magnitude on such a stage and had been struggling and dropping down the rankings for quite a while.
As had been the case at Cincinnati, Alcaraz struggled with the fast hard courts in New York and couldn’t find his timing for most of the match, while Van de Zandschulp was seeing the ball like a watermelon, firing cannon after cannon while barely missing and serving huge for the majority of the match. In the tighest moments, his resolve didn’t waver and he closed out what is quite likely to go down as the greatest win of his career once all is said and done.
Van de Zandschulp got off to a blistering start, breaking early and often to take the first set 6-1. The second set was more tense and back-and-forth, but the Dutchman broke at 5-5 then served out the set. Alcaraz had never come back from 2-0 in his career before, and when Van de Zandschulp broke again early in the third set, the result seemed inevitable. Alcaraz did get that break back, but couldn’t sustain an elite level.
What’s Next?
For Alcaraz it’s a tough loss. It’s the first time he loses to a massive underdog at a Slam in his career, and it will lead to him being surpassed by Alexander Zverev in the rankings and make it quite unlikely that he ends the year ranked #1.
However, this shocking defeat doesn’t take the shine of the amazing year he has had at Grand Slam level, with titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon taking his overall tally to four Slams at the age of 21. Despite this bad day at the office (and an amazing performance by his opponent), Alcaraz remains one of the best youngsters in tennis history, one of the best players in the world, and likely to win many more Slams in the future. That said, it is clear that he’s not quite as good on fast hard courts (and indoors) as he is on other surfaces and that is something he will need to work on going forward. Alcaraz’s performance has been so extraordinary in recent years that it is easy to forget that he is still only 21, is still developing as a player and can have bad losses.
Today belongs to Van de Zandschulp, who secured an unforgettable 6-1 7-5 6-4 victory, but there is little doubt that Alcaraz will bounce back from this and that his future will be very bright and filled with success.
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
