Watch: Alcaraz out of US Open in second-round upset
Watch Carlos Alcaraz suffer a shock defeat to unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the US Open.
Watch Carlos Alcaraz suffer a shock defeat to unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the US Open.
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz suffers a seismic second-round exit at the US Open with a thumping defeat by unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
Two-time champion Naomi Osaka says it feels like “my heart dies every time I lose” after her second-round defeat by Karolina Muchova at the US Open.
Carlos Alcaraz gave full credit to his opponent, Botic van de Zandschulp, on Thursday evening after the Dutchman stunned the four-time major champion in the second round of the US Open. But the third seed also pointed the finger at himself.
“It was a fight against myself, in my mind, during the match,” Alcaraz said. “In tennis you are playing against someone that wants the same as you, to win the match, and you have to be as calm as you can just to think better in the match and try to do good things.”
The 21-year-old explained there were emotions he was unable to control against van de Zandschulp, who converted six of his nine break points in the match.
“I was up in some points. Then I lost some points, I got down. It was a roller coaster, let’s say, in my mind,” Alcaraz said. “So I can’t be like that if I want to think about big things, so I have to improve it. I have to learn about it.”
STATEMENT MADE 💪@Boticvdz stuns Alcaraz to advance in the Big Apple 🍎@usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/p17tGKtg0s
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 30, 2024
Alcaraz admitted to not feeling well striking the ball. When he pushed to come back, it was too late. The Spaniard hit just 21 winners compared to 27 unforced errors.
“I don’t know what to say right now. First of all, I think he played great. He played really good tennis,” Alcaraz said. “I thought he was going to give me more points. I’m going to say more free points. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes that I thought he was going to do. So I was confused a little bit. I didn’t know how to manage that, how to deal with it. I couldn’t increase my level.
“I think my level stayed at the same point all the match, and it wasn’t enough to win the match or to give myself the chance to get into the match or try to give myself chances. So what can I say?”
[ATP APP]The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has enjoyed another standout season, winning back-to-back major titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He also claimed the silver medal at the Paris Olympics, but has now lost three of his past four matches.
“I’ve been playing a lot of matches lately with Roland Garros, with Wimbledon, Olympic Games,” Alcaraz said. “I took a little break after the Olympic Games. I thought it was enough. It was really helpful for me. Probably it wasn’t enough.
“But yeah, probably I came here with not as much energy as I thought that I was going to come. But, I mean, I don’t want to put that as excuse.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Alexei Popyrin was watching Broadway show Hamilton in Manhattan last week when he stepped away from his seat during intermission.
“I went to the toilet, but there was this huge line, and this one guy came up to me and said, ‘Hey, well done in Montreal’,” Popyrin, who will face Novak Djokovic Friday in the third round of the US Open, told ATPTour.com. “[It was] in the middle of a huge crowd, so it was quite cool.”
The fan was congratulating the Australian on his recent breakthrough at the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers, where he won his first ATP Masters 1000 title. Previously, the 25-year-old had made just one quarter-final at the level. He has lately been stopped by fans a couple of times per day on the street.
“I think not as much as obviously [Carlos] Alcaraz and all the top guys, but I get stopped once or twice a day, three times a day sometimes. But every day I get recognised at least once or twice when I’m walking on the streets,” Popyrin said. “Off the court, I’m a relaxed guy. I like to just go about my business and not speak out or speak out of turn or anything like that. I think anybody likes attention when they get it.
“I have enjoyed the extra attention after Montreal. But honestly, it’s not what I play for. It’s not what I like. It’s not my focus at the end of the day. For me, it’s just to play out there, be the centre of attention on the court and then off the court I am who I am.”
Watch Montreal Final Highlights:
Off the court, Popyrin is a simple man. He enjoys spending time with his loved ones and playing golf. In New York, the Australian likes the restaurant scene.
“I like to go to different restaurants. The other night, actually, we went to this fried chicken [restaurant]. It was funny. Coqodaq it’s called. I think Reilly [Opelka] is an investor in that,” Popyrin said. “We went there. One of [coach Xavier Malisse’s] friends actually provides the caviar for the restaurant. It was unbelievable food. You get a bucket, and then you have the plain chicken, and then you have the soy glaze or the spicy chicken. But the guy who we were with ordered all three, so we had two buckets of huge chicken.”
Not all trips to New York have been quite as fun for the Australian. The first time he was in the state came when he was eight years old while connecting through an airport.
“It was a one-day layover, and my younger sister, she was about two years old, she was really sick,” Popyrin said. “She kind of fainted at the airport and we had to go to the hospital here in New York, so that was my first experience here in New York. I was eight, nine. We were on the way to play [the] Nike Junior Tour in Punta Cana.”
[ATP APP]The next time Popyrin returned to New York was in 2016 for the boys’ singles event. The Aussie lost in the second round to eventual champion Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets.
“My first time we were in here in the main grass area, there were hamburgers for lunch, and that’s what we were having for lunch every single day, me, my brother and my mom,” Popyrin said. “And then sometimes we’d go and have the fried chicken in the public, where the public people eat their food, and we would just sit with the public and eat our food, and then I’d go play the match. Nobody knew who I was at the time, so we’ve made the most of it.”
Popyrin added that New York “is probably one of the most hectic cities in the world”. Between the noise and the traffic, he said two weeks or so is the maximum he can spend here. But the 28th seed has been taking advantage of the city’s entertainment, like when he went to see Hamilton, which he greatly enjoyed.
“[It was] unbelievable. I think theater is slowly becoming one of my favourite things to go and watch. In London, we went to Book of Mormon, which was so funny. It was unbelievable. I enjoyed it a lot. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but it’s funny,” Popyrin said. “Then here we went to Hamilton, and they’re all so talented. The people who sing and act there are unbelievable.
“I do enjoy my history. I do enjoy watching TV shows that are back in time. I actually learned during Hamilton, as much as I think you can learn. But I actually learned a little bit about American history and how it was formed, the backstory of Alexander Hamilton.”
The backstory of Popyrin’s relationship with his next opponent, Djokovic, began when the Australian was 12. Training under Riccardo Piatti at the time, he took a photo with the Serbian in Monte-Carlo.
More than a decade later, they have met three times in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with Djokovic taking all three. Two of their clashes came this year, with the veteran triumphing in four sets at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
“I think he’s just super solid. He doesn’t give you anything at all. I don’t think anybody enjoys playing him, to be honest. It’s not new news, I think. But I give myself a shot,” Popyrin said.
“Now that I’m here, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to try and exact some revenge from the last two times I’ve played him. If I win, I’ll be like, ‘F yeah’. But if I lose, I’ll be probably [thinking], ‘Oh, not again’.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Botic van de Zandschulp scored one of the biggest upsets in recent memory Thursday when he stunned 2022 champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in the US Open second round, spoiling the Spaniard’s hopes of a third consecutive major title.
The World No. 74 in the PIF ATP Rankings struck the ball with conviction and looked for early opportunities to move forward and disrupt the Spaniard’s usual baseline rhythm. By defeating the World No. 3, the Dutchman earned the highest-ranked win of his career.
“I’m a little bit lost for words. It’s been an incredible evening, the first night session for me on Arthur Ashe. The crowd was amazing,” van de Zandschulp said.
“I got a lot of confidence from my last match [against Denis Shapovalov]. I played really solid and from point one tonight, I believed I could have a chance and you see how it sometimes turns out.”
Alcaraz suffered his first loss in the second round of a major since 2021 at Wimbledon, where the then-World No. 75 fell to second seed Daniil Medvedev. The 15-time tour-level titlist committed 27 unforced errors, 12 of which came on his forehand, several missing by a great distance.
Van de Zandschulp came flying out of the blocks and rarely looked back. He skillfully absorbed the heavy hitting of Alcaraz, who did not hit a winner throughout the first set.
“I was defending well and I think I saw some of the stats: I won an unbelievable amount of points at the net,” said van de Zandschulp, who converted 28 of his 35 net points. “My coach wanted me to be a little more aggressive and I think I did it really well today.”
While the four-time major champion struggled to find a successful ‘plan B’ when he was unable to overpower van de Zandschulp, it was the 28-year-old who refused to give Alcaraz free points on return. Van de Zandschulp, who won 43 per cent of his return points, earned a decisive break at 5-5 in the second set and served out the set to love.
The tension rose inside Arthur Ashe Stadium when van de Zandschulp let slip a break lead in the third set at 3-2, during which he double faulted down break point. Alcaraz then asked for support from the crowd and flashed several large smiles in the heat of battle, as if to say he was enjoying the late-night fight.
[ATP APP]But the 2021 quarter-finalist, who reached the last eight that year as a qualifier, remained levelheaded. Van de Zandschulp rose to the occasion, earning a crucial break at 4-4 in the third set and serving out the two-hour, 19-minute match to love.
“Of course I had some nerves. But if you want to beat one of these guys you have to be unbelievably calm and keep your head there, otherwise they will take advantage,” said van de Zandschulp, who won 78 per cent of his first-serve points, compared to Alcaraz’s 60 per cent.
Van de Zandschulp improved to 1-2 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Alcaraz. He will next play 25th seed Jack Draper in the third round Saturday.
Last week, van de Zandschulp lost in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open, his first hard-court tournament since Miami in March. The former World No. 22’s most recent tour-level win before New York came on the Gstaad clay in mid-July. He entered Thursday’s match with a 6-10 season record on hard courts.
Alcaraz leaves the season’s final major with a 39-9 match record this year. The 21-year-old has won three titles in 2024: Indian Wells, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He also claimed the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. Alcaraz has now lost three of his past four matches.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]STATEMENT MADE 💪@Boticvdz stuns Alcaraz to advance in the Big Apple 🍎@usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/p17tGKtg0s
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 30, 2024
Gabriel Diallo’s smile was telling Thursday evening in New York.
The 22-year-old Canadian qualifier’s happiness showed after he upset 24th seed Arthur Fils 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round of the US Open. The 6’8″ Diallo began the week without a major main draw win to his name. Now he owns two.
“Obviously super happy, especially the way that I’ve been playing throughout the summer,” Diallo said. “I’ve been able to put up some good matches and continuously bring a very good level and giving myself some chances to win. Now it’s time to recover, try to analyse the match and get ready for Saturday.”
[ATP APP]The former University of Kentucky standout explained that a big moment for him came in July at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Chicago, where he lifted the trophy. Diallo did not lose a set all week en route to his third Challenger trophy.
“Especially the way I won it. I didn’t get broken the whole week,” Diallo said. “I faced only maybe five break points throughout the whole tournament and it wasn’t like I was banging 25 aces a match. I was playing really well behind my serve, so I think that gave me the confidence to know that even if I’m not serving great, I can still get myself some good chances to win.”
After that, the Canadian reached another Challenger semi-final in Cary and advanced through qualifying at Flushing Meadows to earn a place in his second major main draw.
“In the second round of qualies I was down 6-3, 5-3. I saved two match points, so I just remind myself that everything is a bonus from now, because just a week ago I was contemplating going home,” Diallo said. “Obviously there are a lot of nerves, but you try to focus on the tactics, what you can control, where you want to hit the ball, what you want to do to win the point.”
Now the Canadian is a win against 14th seed Tommy Paul from reaching the second week at a Grand Slam tournament.
A rising star whose father is from Guinea and mother is from Ukraine is shining on the world’s stage.
“My dad comes from a very small village, you can’t even see it on the map, actually,” Diallo said. “Me and him tried to go on a map and see it, and it doesn’t appear on the map. I’m not even kidding.”
Diallo is up to No. 103 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, so it is certainly on the map now.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]GB’s Neal Skupski and American partner Desirae Krawczyk exit the US Open in the first round, but there are British wins elsewhere in the doubles draws.
Top seed Iga Swiatek breezes into the third round of the US Open, while former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina withdraws.
After recovering from a mid-year injury blow, Alex de Minaur has not taken long to get back to business at the US Open.
The No. 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings eased past qualifier Otto Virtanen 7-5, 6-1, 7-6(3) on Thursday afternoon to book his third-round spot at the hard-court major. Renowned as one of the fiercest competitors on the ATP Tour, De Minaur has now dropped just one set across his two matches so far in New York, where he returned to action after missing seven weeks due to a hip injury.
“I’m very happy [about the win], and obviously happy to be back on court playing in front of you guys,” said De Minaur in his on-court interview. “It’s always a great atmosphere in New York. I’m happy to keep going. Every day I’m getting a little bit better and I’m looking forward to what’s to come.”
A classic @alexdeminaur point:@usopen | #USOpen
pic.twitter.com/elbGoC47lL— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 29, 2024
Despite not having competed since Wimbledon, De Minaur has seamlessly resumed a standout year in New York. The 25-year-old Australian is now 38-12 for the season, and he will hope to continue his impressive comeback in his next match against Mariano Navone or Daniel Evans.
“I’m getting better ever day,” said De Minaur. “I still don’t have a lot of expectations, but I know that every time I step out here I’m going to compete, I’m going to try my hardest and hopefully put on a show. Let’s see if I can keep it going.”
[ATP APP]De Minaur was joined in the third round by his countrymen Jordan Thompson and Christopher O’Connell.
Thompson notched his first victory against a Top 10 opponent at a Grand Slam by upsetting seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(2), 6-1, 7-5. The World No. 32 enjoyed a standout day on serve, winning 82 per cent (42/51) of points behind his first delivery en route to victory in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Hurkacz. Thompson next takes on 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi, who defeated Roman Safiullin 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
O’Connell reached the third round of a major for the third time by overcoming Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The 30-year-old will next prepare for a meeting with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. Nuno Borges prevented Thanasi Kokkinakis from making it a perfect start to the day for the Australian men in New York, however. The Portuguese downed Kokkinakis 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 to advance to face Jakub Mensik or Tristan Schoolkate.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]