Carlos Alcaraz take your bags and quickly leave the Arthur Ashe main court of the US Open. It just been eliminated with beating by the dutch Botic Van de Zandschulpwho punished him for three sets without rest, and that is why he raises both arms, joins his hands above his head and asks the fans for forgiveness. Of course, the US Open He was left this Friday at dawn without one of his great favorites, who came as winner of the last two Grand Slams (Roland Garros and Wimbledon) and the silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but he left in the second round.
The victory of the Dutchman, 28 years old, 74th in the world and whose best result is the quarterfinals of 2021, was with partials of 6-1, 7-5 y 6-4 to erase an Alcaraz from the field who, among other negative numbers, did not even have a winner during the first set. Quite a symptom for the number 3 in the ATP ranking and 2022 US Open champion, who could not avoid defeat in two hours and 19 minutes of play.
The Murcian had not suffered such an early defeat in a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2021, when he also fell in the second round, making it his worst result to date in the main draw of a ‘major’.
Van de Zandschulp’s rival will be the British Jack Draperwho on the same day took the Argentine out of the tournament Facundo Díaz Acosta.
The Spaniard had won 15 consecutive matches in Grand Slam tournaments and aspired to be the third tennis player in the Open Era to be champion at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open in the season, after Rafael Nadal (2010) and the mythical Rod Laver (1969).
But the New York night was twisted for Alcaraz, who was at the mercy of Van de Zandschulp, a player without ATP titles. “I brought a lot of confidence from the last match, in which I played very solid, and today from the first shot I believed I had a chance,” said the Dutchman, who in his debut had defeated Canadian Denis Shapovalov, also in straight sets.
At 21 years old, Alcaraz showed bomb-proof reliability in the Grand Slams, with nine consecutive tournaments reaching at least the round of 16. But the blow of Paris 2024, apart from the silver medal in singles, seems to have been much more than a negative result.
He had already been surprisingly eliminated in his debut at the Cincinnati Masters 1000 and for the first time he was seen smashing a racket on the floor out of rage. In fact, he had to publicly apologize for his lapse of anger.
An uphill game for Alcaraz
The Murcian delivered the first set in just 31 minutes in which he did not achieve a single winning blow against a very confident Van de Zandschulp on serve and return.
In the second set the Spaniard regained his sensations and, after several brilliant finishes, showed a smile. Those that were missing in his box, where his trainer Juan Carlos Ferrero was, with an unfriendly face.
The public was ready to embark on the comeback of one of their favorite players but Alcaraz’s game remained blurred and Van de Zandschulp retained his enormous effectiveness.
With a double fault, the first of the match, Alcaraz gave the Dutchman the decisive break to score the second set.
Alcaraz was forced to come back from two sets down for the first time in his careerafter seven failed attempts.
The Spaniard made several reactionary threats in the third set, with points that woke up the fans in the stands, but were insufficient to change the dynamics of the match.
Van de Zandschulp remained cool and efficient until causing an earthquake in the last Grand Slam of the season, where Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner remain the big favorites for victory.
With agency information