It was impossible to predict that the young Spanish star would have such a disastrous night as Thursday when he lost without extenuating circumstances 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the US Open.
It was 2 hours and 19 minutes of an unrecognizable Alcaraz at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, far from the ecstatic tennis player who has accumulated four Grand Slam crowns by the age of 21.
After double-faulting to fall two sets down, a deficit he has never been able to reverse, the third seed picked up his bag and headed to the locker room. Bewildered by the situation, he looked to his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, letting him know he didn’t know what to do.
“Mentally I’m not well, I’m not strong,” said a disgruntled Alcaraz when discussing a night to forget before the press. “When faced with problems, I don’t know how to control myself, how to manage them, and that’s a problem for me.”
Nobody expected such a blow, considering his excellent form in the previous months against a lesser rival – the number 74 in the ranking.
Alcaraz was light years away from his best, making all kinds of mistakes, only to see a streak of 15 Grand Slam tournament victories snapped.
Alcaraz had had a brilliant summer: victories at the French Open and then Wimbledon in July, plus a silver medal at the Paris Olympics. Having won in New York in 2022, he was the big favourite to add another trophy to his collection.
But he was never able to match up against the 28-year-old van de Zandschulp.
“I couldn’t see the ball very well. I’ve rarely felt the ball in the sweet spot. I didn’t get it right. It’s a very strange sensation,” said Alcaraz.
“Instead of taking steps forward, I have taken steps backwards in terms of my mind,” she said. “I don’t understand why. I have to see what is happening to me. I was coming off a spectacular summer, from Roland Garros, from Wimbledon, and I was coming out of there saying that I had taken a step forward mentally. I come to this tour and it’s like I have taken a step backwards.”
Alcaraz did not rule out that a relentless tournament schedule took its toll on him.
After losing to Novak Djokovic in the Olympic final three weeks ago, Alcaraz fell early against Gael Monfils in Cincinnati, smashing a racquet in between.
“Suddenly I came here without having the energy I thought I would have,” he said. “But I don’t want to use that as an excuse.”
He was 16-2 at the US Open, and had never lost before the quarterfinals in his three previous appearances. This was Alcaraz’s earliest defeat at a major since he fell in the second round of Wimbledon in 2021 as a teenager.
Van de Zandschulp, meanwhile, had a US Open quarter-final in 2021 as her best result at a major event.
It seemed very difficult that he would be the protagonist of such a major surprise, especially considering that he had a record of 11-18 entering this week and had not had a chain of victories on the tour throughout 2024 until now.
“I have no words, it was a great night for me,” he said.
And he did, giving free rein to his aggression, taking the point in 28 of his 35 approaches to the net.
“I defended well… I was nervous, but if you want to beat one of these players, you have to stay calm,” said van de Zandschulp, who will face 25th-seeded Briton Jack Draper in the third round. “Otherwise, they will take advantage of that.”
