NEW YORK -- After a dominant summer that saw him win the titles at the French Open and Wimbledon -- becoming just the sixth man to win both in the same season -- Carlos Alcaraz was handed his earliest exit at the US Open with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 loss to world No. 74 Botic van de Zandschulp.
Playing in the second night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of a lively crowd, the third-seeded Alcaraz was the heavy favorite to win and Van de Zandschulp acknowledged he would have to play his best tennis ahead of the match to have a chance.
"Hopefully he's not 100%," he joked with ESPN's Brad Gilbert. "You know, I need a little help tonight."
But while he showed no signs of any physical ailments, Alcaraz was flat from the start, and Van de Zandschulp seized the opportunity. He then managed to stave off Alcaraz's attempts at a comeback, winning in two hours and 19 minutes.
When it was over, Van de Zandschulp showed the slightest hint of a smile before shaking hands with Alcaraz at the net.
"I'm a little bit lost for words," he told ESPN's Mary Joe Fernandez on court moments later. "It's been an incredible evening here. First night session for me on Arthur Ashe. Crowd was amazing, so thank you for that. Yeah, unbelievable night."
Alcaraz became the first men's player seeded in the top three to lose before the end of the second round at the US Open since 2006.
So, what just happened and what does it mean for the rest of the tournament? Here are some key takeaways from Thursday's shocking upset.
The busy schedule and surface changes might have caught up to Alcaraz
A four-time major champion at just 21, Alcaraz has made winning major titles look easy. But -- spoiler alert -- it's anything but.
Alcaraz had lost his first-round match in Cincinnati earlier this month -- his only tuneup event before the tournament -- and dropped a set in his opening-round match against qualifier Li Tu on Tuesday. Having gone from clay to grass and then back to clay for the Olympics before the start of the hard-court season, Alcaraz said it had taken its toll, and the grind of the intense summer schedule had caught up with him.
"The tennis schedule is so tight," he said Thursday, just moments after the loss. "I've been playing a lot of matches lately, you know, with Roland Garros, with Wimbledon, Olympic Games. ... Probably I came here with not as much energy as I thought that I was going to come [with]."
During Thursday's match, Alcaraz appeared confused from the start. He said he had anticipated Van de Zandschulp would make a slew of mistakes and had planned accordingly. However, when Van de Zandschulp didn't do that, he said he didn't know how to adjust.
"I didn't know how to manage that, how to deal with it," Alcaraz said. "I couldn't increase my level."
He had 27 unforced errors during the match and had a crucial double fault during a key moment late in the second set. He has never before come back to win when two sets behind, and he wasn't able to do it Thursday either. It marked the earliest Slam exit for Alcaraz since Wimbledon in 2021.
Alcaraz vowed to learn from the experience and hoped it would help him improve going forward.
Van de Zandschulp was ready for the moment
While many on social media claimed to not know who the 28-year-old Dutchman is, he's no stranger to the second week in New York. In 2021 -- the same year he made his major debut at the Australian Open and with just five ATP wins to his name -- he came through qualifying and made it all the way to the quarterfinals. He stunned then-No. 8 seed Casper Ruud in the second round and 11-seed Diego Schwartzman in the Round of 16. He lost to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals but was the only player in the tournament to take a set off him.
So, all that is to say, he has been here before.
And he channeled that previous experience Thursday. Despite having played just one match on the hard court since March prior to the US Open, having not won back-to-back tour-level matches all season, and with a 1-3 record in majors on the year, Van de Zandschulp was not deterred. As he later told Fernandez, he believed he could win. He said he had come into the match with a plan to be aggressive, and immediately stopped Alcaraz's rhythm, not allowing him to hit a single winner in the first set.
Botic van de Zandschulp just knocked Carlos Alcaraz out of the US Open! pic.twitter.com/QK3ZrkoPgx
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2024
As expected, Alcaraz raised his level in the second set -- but so did Van de Zandschulp.
Overall, he won 28 of 35 net points, had 22 winners and, according to Alcaraz, simply gave away very few free points.
"He played great. He played really good tennis," Alcaraz said.
Van de Zandschulp later confessed he was nervous but outwardly showed few signs of it -- rarely displaying emotions of any kind.
"Of course I had some nerves, but I think if you want to beat one of these guys, you have to be unbelievably calm and keep your head there," Van de Zandschulp said. "Otherwise they take easy advantage of it."
It was his seventh win over a top-10 opponent and first in a major.
The men's title is truly up for grabs
Even prior to Thursday night's upset, the tournament was already considered one of the more wide-open majors for the men in recent memory.
Alcaraz was a slight betting favorite to win the trophy, with defending champion Novak Djokovic and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner right behind him in the odds, but there were questions for all three entering the tournament. Before winning Olympic gold (over Alcaraz in the final), Djokovic hadn't won a title all year, and it was the worst start to a season for him since 2006. Sinner has been facing heavy scrutiny following the announcement of two failed drug tests in March.
Djokovic and Sinner remain in contention, but neither has looked flawless in their two respective matches. Alcaraz would have potentially faced Sinner in the semifinal, and Djokovic is on the other side of the draw.
So now, instead of Alcaraz, Van de Zandschulp will face No. 25 seed Jack Draper on Saturday with a spot in the second week on the line. The winner of that match will take on either David Goffin or Tomas Machac, who are both unseeded. No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur is the highest-ranked player left in the quarter of the draw.
Tommy Paul, the No. 14 seed, is the only American remaining on that side of the draw, and he could potentially play Sinner, who is next in action against Christopher O'Connell on Saturday, in the fourth round. If Paul were to pull off that upset, a trip to his first major final might very well be in reach. Medvedev is also in the top half of the draw and seeking his fourth final appearance in Queens.
Djokovic will next take on Alexei Popyrin, the No. 28 seed and reigning Canadian Open champion, on Friday. Americans Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Brandon Nakashima all remain in the draw, as do Ruud, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev, as potential threats for Djokovic as he attempts to reach the final.