Carlos Alcaraz unexpectedly failed to make it to the second round of the US Open. Not so long ago, his opponent was thinking about ending his tennis career early.
Carlos Alcaraz briefly waved to the crowd in confusion and fled from the floodlights in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Angry with himself, the failed title favorite soon sought an explanation for one of the greatest sensations in recent tennis history. With a weak performance, the 2022 winner of the US Open lost completely unexpectedly in the second round with 1:6, 5:7, 4:6 to outsider Botic van de Zandschulp from the Netherlands.
“It was a battle against myself in my head,” said Alcaraz shortly before midnight, almost stumbling over his own words in the flow of his speech in English. “Today I played against my opponent and against myself. I had a lot of emotions that I couldn’t control.” The 21-year-old lost in just 2 hours 19 minutes – faster than ever before in New York.
The four-time Grand Slam champion cursed on the court, tapped his forehead, lamented with his coaches. All in vain. His opponent, on the other hand, was completely overwhelmed by the biggest victory of his career so far. “I’m lost for words. It was an incredible evening for me,” said van de Zandschulp at the stadium microphone.
Van de Zandschulp was still thinking about quitting this summer
The 28-year-old is ranked 74th in the world rankings. He has never made it past the second round of any tournament on the ATP Tour this year.
After another first-round exit at the French Open and the “worst match” of his career, he even considered retiring this summer. “I was just being honest. I seriously considered it,” said van de Zandschulp early in the morning in New York, looking back and also talking about past injuries. “If I had to continue playing with the pain, there was a chance that I wouldn’t continue playing.”
He gained new confidence through smaller tournaments, for example in Lüdenscheid a month ago, and has now triumphed sensationally against one of the best players in the world. The Dutchman has only made it to the quarter-finals of the US Open once in his career, three years ago, as a qualifier. Alcaraz, on the other hand, won the Grand Slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon this season. Before that, he had always reached at least the quarter-finals at the US Open.
Alcaraz fails to win the first set
Alcaraz had not been in top form recently and now had a disastrous start. In the first set, which lasted just 30 minutes, he did not manage to hit a single winning shot. When he broke his opponent’s serve to make it 2-2 in the second set, he roared with relief.
But van de Zandschulp did not let himself be discouraged, put Alcaraz under pressure with his aggressive style and repeatedly won points at the net. “I was afraid the whole match that he would come up with something special,” he reported. In the third set, however, van de Zandschulp managed the decisive break to make it 5:4. A little later, he was celebrating.
Source: Stern
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