After double faulting and falling behind two units to none — a deficit he has by no means overcome — within the second spherical of the US Open on Thursday evening, Carlos Alcaraz slung his tools bag over a shoulder and trudged towards the locker room.
Glancing within the route of his coach, 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz pointed his proper index finger at his temple then wagged that finger, as if to say, “I am not considering straight.”
He might need been excused for being confused by what was transpiring underneath the closed retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium on a cold night. One set later, Alcaraz’s 15-match Grand Slam unbeaten streak was over with a sloppy 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 loss to 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp.
“It was a struggle in opposition to myself, in my thoughts, through the match,” Alcaraz mentioned. “In tennis, you might be taking part in in opposition to somebody that desires the identical as you — to win the match — and it’s a must to be as … calm as you possibly can, simply to assume higher within the match and attempt to do good issues. At present I used to be taking part in in opposition to the opponent, and I used to be taking part in in opposition to myself, in my thoughts. Lots of feelings that I could not management.”
The consequence eradicated the pre-tournament males’s favourite and positively was onerous to foretell beforehand, given the No. 3-seeded Alcaraz’s standing within the sport, his excellence of late and his opponent’s far-lesser résumé.
It adopted one other exit in Ashe for a previous US Open champion, Naomi Osaka, who was despatched dwelling Thursday by Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-6 (5). That one, although, was not anyplace close to what occurred to Alcaraz.
He gained the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July to lift his profession complete to 4 main championships, together with taking the title at Flushing Meadows in 2022. In early August, Alcaraz gained a silver medal on the Paris Olympics, dropping to Novak Djokovic within the ultimate.
Possibly, Alcaraz acknowledged, a tennis schedule he referred to as “so tight” drained him an excessive amount of.
“In all probability, I got here right here with not as a lot vitality as I believed that I used to be going to [have],” he mentioned. “However I imply, I do not need to put that as excuse.”
What’s clear is he by no means discovered his footing in opposition to Van de Zandschulp, a 28-year-old from the Netherlands. Alcaraz was off, repeatedly lacking the types of photographs he routinely makes.
The 21-year-old from Spain got here in with a 16-2 file on the US Open, the place he by no means misplaced earlier than the quarterfinals in three earlier appearances. This additionally was Alcaraz’s earliest defeat at any main match since bowing out within the second spherical of Wimbledon in 2021 as a teen; he has by no means been overwhelmed within the first spherical at a Slam occasion.
In distinction, Van de Zandschulp solely as soon as has been to a Grand Slam quarterfinal, getting that far on the US Open in 2021.
In any other case, he isn’t somebody most people would have anticipated to drag off this kind of monumental upset. Take into account: Van de Zandschulp was 11-18 for the season initially of this week and hadn’t gained consecutive matches at a tour-level occasion in 2024 till now.
“Really, I’m a bit bit perplexed,” he mentioned. “It has been an unimaginable night for me.”
It certain was.
The important thing stat was that Van de Zandschulp gained the purpose on 28 of his 35 journeys to the online.
The opening set was unbelievably lopsided. With Van de Zandschulp’s highly effective forehands and serves at as much as 132 mph discovering their marks, Alcaraz by no means appeared to get snug.
He didn’t produce a single winner in that set and was almost doubled up in complete factors 24-13. The second set was a bit higher for him, however not sufficient so, and a double fault gift-wrapped a service break that put Van de Zandschulp up 6-5. When Alcaraz pushed a forehand large to finish the subsequent sport, Van de Zandschulp completed off a maintain at love that gave him the preliminary two units after 1½ hours of play.
It did not take lengthy for Alcaraz to fall behind by a break within the third, at 3-2, however he made a stand instantly — with assist as a result of Van de Zandschulp’s double fault ceded a break that made it 3-all. Alcaraz then held at love and smiled as he strutted to the changeover.
That grin rapidly was gone, although, as a result of Alcaraz’s errors stored arriving, and Van de Zandschulp by no means folded.
“In fact I had some nerves, however I feel if you wish to beat one in every of these guys, it’s a must to hold your calm and hold your head there,” mentioned Van de Zandschulp, who will face No. 25 seed Jack Draper of Britain within the third spherical Saturday. “In any other case, they benefit from it.”
Alcaraz is the primary top-three males’s seed to lose throughout the first two rounds on the US Open since 2006, when No. 3-seeded Ivan Ljubicic misplaced within the first spherical to Feliciano López. The second-round loss is the earliest by a males’s US Open pre-tournament betting favourite since Patrick Rafter in 1999, who was the defending champion however retired from his first-round match in opposition to Cedric Pioline due to a shoulder harm.
Alcaraz had entered the evening 25-1 in majors in opposition to gamers ranked outdoors the highest 50, with the lone loss coming in opposition to No. 95 Mikael Ymer within the second spherical of the 2021 Australian Open.
The Related Press and ESPN Stats & Data contributed to this report.