Carlos Alcaraz handed his earliest exit from Grand Slams since 2021 by Botic van de Zandschulp at US Open

Carlos Alcaraz made his Grand Slam debut in 2021 itself.

Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp pulled off a coup when he defeated World No. #3 Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in round two of the US Open 2024. In defeating Alcaraz, Zandschulp interrupted the Spaniard’s 15-match Grand Slam win streak this year. It was the 28-year-old Dutch player’s first win over Alcaraz and their second meeting at a major after the 2022 Australian Open.   

Carlos Alcaraz could not overcome the two sets to none deficit on Thursday night. The result eliminated the pre-tournament favourite and 2022 champion in the first week. It was a shock exit for the World No. #3 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, coming just a month after he won the Channel Slam. It was not the predicted outcome, given his opponent’s less impressive resume coupled with his excellent run this year.

The 21-year-old Spaniard had a 16-2 record at the US Open and had never lost before the quarter-final stage at Flushing Meadows. He never found his footing as he stumbled to his earliest defeat at a major since bowing out in the second round at Wimbledon in 2021.

2021 was the first year Carlos Alcaraz played Grand Slam main draws. pic.twitter.com/t2mTxsh5ah

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2024

In contrast, Botic van de Zandschulp reached the quarter-final of a Grand Slam only once, on his 2021 visit to Flushing Meadows. Zandschulp, ranked World No. #74 in the ATP Rankings, became the first Dutchman to earn a win over a Top #3 player since Richard Krajicek defeated Pete Sampras. The outcome of the 1996 quarter-final match prevented Sampras from picking up his fourth straight Wimbledon trophy.

Also Read: Novak Djokovic became the first tennis player to record 90 wins at All Grand Slams

Had Alcaraz prevailed in the second round, he would have had an opportunity to join Rod Laver and Rafael Nadal in winning the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open in the same season. Laver was the first man in the Open Era to achieve the feat in 1969, the same year he accomplished a historic calendar Grand Slam. Nadal joined the legendary Australian four decades later in 2020 to make it a two-man club.

Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam winner, has made it much harder for himself to achieve his goal of being the year-end No. #1. He will drop 720 points as the 2023 US Open semi-finalist and trails Jannik Sinner by 1000 points in the Race to Turin. Before the Cincinnati Open, the Spaniard was trailing by just 450 points.

Sinner and Novak Djokovic have progressed to the third round with wins over Alex Michelsen and Laslo Djere. Zandschulp now advances to Round 3 for the second time, where he will take on Jack Draper, the No. #25 seed.

Looking back at the Alcaraz loss, the Spaniard hit just 21 winners compared to 27 unforced errors. In many ways, it resembles his slump last season. Alcaraz’s run of bad luck began after his loss in the Cincinnati Open final to Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard made a second-round exit at Cincinnati this year after having a meltdown during his match against Gael Monfils.

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