Dutchman snaps Alcaraz's 15-match winning streak at the Slams
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTThree months ago, after losing in the opening round of Roland-Garros, Botic van de Zandschulp said he was considering retiring from tennis.
On Thursday, he was understandably “at a loss for words” after he shocked reigning Roland-Garros and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in second-round action at Arthur Ashe stadium.
The Dutch world No.74 had never taken a set off of Alcaraz in either of their two previous meetings but looked in control throughout his two-hour 19-minute victory, as he troubled the Spaniard with his unshakeable defence and frequent trips up to the net (he won 28/35 of his net points).
It was Alcaraz’s earliest defeat at a Slam since Wimbledon 2021. The Spaniard had reached the quarter-finals or better in his last seven consecutive majors coming into this US Open and was carrying a 15-match winning streak at the Grand Slams entering his clash with Van de Zandschulp.
“I think I played unbelievably stable,” said Van de Zandschulp, who reached the quarter-finals on his US Open debut three years ago as a qualifier.
Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion at the age of 21, was also searching for words to describe how he felt about his performance.
“I don't know what to say right now. I mean, first of all, I think he played great. He played really good tennis. I thought he was going to give me more free points,” admitted Alcaraz.
“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 getting into the match or trying to give myself chances.
“I didn't feel well hitting the ball. I think I made a lot of mistakes. When I wanted to come back, it was too late.”
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTOn the heels of a packed stretch that saw him win two majors before heading back to Paris to clinch the silver medal at the Olympics, Alcaraz feels he needed more of a break before making it to New York.
“The tennis schedule is so tight. Probably I'm a player that needs more days or more break coming into the important tournaments. So I have to think about it, and I have to learn about it,” said the world No.3.
On his part, Van de Zandschulp must now reset in time for his Saturday third-round meeting with British No.25 seed Jack Draper.
Meanwhile, world No.1 Jannik Sinner scooped up his 50th victory of the season – and tour-leading 30th win on hard courts – with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 result against 20-year-old American Alex Mickelsen.
The Italian landed 81 percent of his first serves in, converted 8/16 break points and had a 28:24 winners to unforced errors ratio.
His reward is a third-round clash with Australia’s Christopher O’Connell.
Top-seeded Iga Swiatek became just the fifth player in the Open Era to reach the Round of 32 for 19+ consecutive women’s singles Grand Slam tournaments (after Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez), thanks to a 6-0, 6-1 one-hour, five-minute victory over Ena Shibahara on Thursday.
After being tested in two tight sets against Kamilla Rakhimova in her opening round, Swiatek hit her stride in round two, dropping a total of six points on serve throughout the entire match against Shibahara.
“I couldn't really focus well on my first-round match, and I wanted to improve that. I gave myself time and acceptance that it may not be perfect, but step by step I can, yeah, as you said, have better focus and have better mindset. Today it was for sure a little bit better,” said Swiatek, who next squares off with No.25 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Lurking in Swiatek’s section of the draw as a possible fourth-round opponent for the world No.1 was No.21 seed Mirra Andreeva.
The 17-year-old phenom lost a close three-setter to Swiatek earlier this month in the Cincinnati quarter-finals, and many were anticipating a big showdown between the pair in the last 16.
But Ashlyn Krueger had other ideas. The 20-year-old Texan 0-6 in Grand Slam main draws prior to his fortnight but claimed a maiden victory at the majors with success over Zhang Shuai in her US Open first round before knocking out Andreeva in round two on Thursday.
Coached by Michael Joyce, who previously worked with Maria Sharapova and Jessica Pegula, Krueger is enjoying an impressive summer, where she claimed wins over Naomi Osaka and Donna Vekic in Cincinnati, and defeated Leylah Fernandez in Toronto.
The American will face No.16 seed Liudmila Samsonova in the third round.
Another rival to vacate Swiatek’s half of the draw on Thursday was No.4 seed Elena Rybakina.
The former Wimbledon champion withdrew ahead of her second round against French qualifier Jessika Ponchet, citing an undisclosed injury.
This is the third time this year where Rybakina has withdrawn mid-tournament, and she also missed Indian Wells, Rome, Toronto and the Olympics due to illness.
“About the match today, I felt like in an Italian restaurant. You know the food is great, the after taste is great, but your head is like this, it was so noisy. So all the match I was like, ‘Oh, try to focus, try to focus’. It was a fun feeling.”
– Daniil Medvedev describes the challenge of competing in front of the notoriously loud New York crowd. The No.5 seed beat Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(5) to book a third-round duel with No.31 seed Flavio Cobolli.
“It's a little rough because I do take these losses really personally. It's like a dramatic word, but I feel like my heart dies every time I lose. It sucks a lot, but I've been trying to be more mature and learn and talk more about them.”
– Naomi Osaka opens up after suffering a straight-sets defeat to Karolina Muchova in the second round.
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTAnother day, another successful bounce back from two-sets-to-love down; this time it was 18-year-old Jakub Mensik, who defeated Australian Tristan Schoolkate 6-7(4), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(5), 7-6(10/3) to reach the US Open third round for a second straight year.
The Czech teen fired 63 winners, including 27 aces, and saved two match points during his four-hour 14-minute victory to book a last-32 meeting with Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
With her 7-6(4), 6-3 win over her compatriot Sofia Kenin on Thursday, Jessica Pegula improved to a perfect 11-0 against fellow Americans this season.
“I knew that my record was really good, so today I really wanted to get one more. I don’t know. I just get juiced up to play Americans, I guess,” said Pegula on court.
The No.6 seed next takes on Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in round three.
Bianca Andreescu lost to Jasmine Paolini in three consecutive Grand Slams this season - Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. It's nice to see the Canadian having a sense of humour about it!
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
