In the 2024 US Open second round, Carlos Alcaraz faced a shocking upset against Botic van de Zandschulp. Because of injury worries, the world No. 74 was thinking about retiring a few months ago, but he persisted and achieved one of his greatest victories to date.
Given his 15-match Grand Slam winning streak, the Spaniard was favoured in their second-round match on Thursday, August 29. In contrast, the Dutchman had not advanced past the third round in his previous eight Grand Slam main draw outings.
But Zandschulp was quick off the start, not allowing Alcaraz to win a single game in the opening set. In the second and third sets, he also earned breaks at critical junctures and maintained his composure to win both sets while serving. In the end, Zandschulp easily prevailed in two hours and 19 minutes, winning 6-1, 7-5, and 6-4.
The 28-year-old was questioned about how seriously he was considering retirement not too long ago during the press conference held following the match.
He talked about it and said: “Yeah, at the time I said it, I was thinking about it, of course. Yeah, it was just more the way things were going. I got injured last year. Still had some troubles with the injury from last year. That was for me like if I have to keep playing with the pain I had, yeah, then there was a chance maybe I would stop playing. Of course, I will give myself to the end of the year and see how everything is progressing. Yeah, of course, there was a serious thought.”
He further talked about his feelings and said: “Actually right now not so many (laughing). Yeah, maybe I’m still processing it. Maybe in a couple of hours or tomorrow, I will feel a little bit more emotional with what happened tonight. Yeah, back when I said it, that maybe I’m thinking about retiring, at that point, I was just being honest.”
After beating Carlos Alcaraz, Botic van de Zandschulp says he was seriously considering retirement a few months ago
“What considerations were you giving to retirement? How seriously were you considering it, and how do you look back on that period right now?”
Botic: “Yeah, at… pic.twitter.com/6SbeZ81qEv
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 30, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz in 2024
LWLLWWWWWW Ranked world no.3, Carlos played his last match on the 29th of August when he lost to world no.74 Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-1 7-5 6-4 in the 2nd round of the U.S. Open (draw).
This season Carlos owns a composed 39-9 win-loss record. Alcaraz clinched 3 titles in 2024 in Indian Wells, French Open and Wimbledon. The Spaniard got to the final in Paris.
Carlos Alcaraz will fight against the world no.354 Gabi Adrian Boitan in the . They have never played each other so far in top events.
The Spaniard conquered 3 titles in 2024 in Indian Wells, French Open and Wimbledon. The Spaniard reached the final in Paris (Olympics).
The Spaniard won 16 titles in his career: 4 on hard courts, 8 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 3 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Van De Zandschulp at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2024
WWLLWWWWLL At the moment ranked no.74, Botic has managed to achieve a compiled 24-24 match record in 2024. Botic is playing at the U.S. Open where he overcame the world no.105 Denis Shapovalov 6-4 7-5 6-4 and the world no.3 Carlos Alcaraz 6-1 7-5 6-4.
Botic Van De Zandschulp will fight against the world no.39 Tomas Machac in the final on Sunday at 2:00 pm on CENTER COURT. Their head to head is 3-2 for Van De Zandschulp.
Botic reached the final in the Braunschweig Challenger and in the Luedenscheid Challenger.
Carlos Alcaraz and Botic Van De Zandschulp played each other 3 times. Their head to head is 2-1 for Alcaraz. Before, the last time they fought against each other, Botic Van De Zandschulp won 6-1 7-5 6-4 in the 2nd round in New York (U.S. Open) on the 29th of August 2024.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
