Botic van de Zandschulp lost first round at Australian Open and French Open this year but at the US Open he saved his best for last as he executed one of the biggest upsets of the year, dismissing heavy favorite Carlos Alcaraz.
The 28 year old ranked 74 in the world prevailed 61 75 64. On match point the six-foot-three Dutchman was up 40-love and blasted a service winner down the tee which Carlos couldn’t control. Botic’s blank reaction contradicted this was the most important win of his life.
The difference was aggression and confidence. “I got a lot of confidence from my last match [against 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… 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 successfully converted 28 of his 35 net points into winners. “My coach (Sven Groeneveld) wanted me to be a little more aggressive and I think I did it really well today.”
Carlos Alcaraz was stunned after the shock loss against a man he was previously 2-0 against: “I don’t know what to say right now. First of all he played great. He played really good tennis. I thought he would give me more free points. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes I thought he was going to make.. it was confusing a bit. I didn’t know how to manage or deal with it. I couldn’t increase my level. I think my level stayed the same the whole match. It wasn’t enough to do it or to give myself the chance to get into the match or try to give myself chances. So what can I say? I didn’t feel well hitting the ball. I made a lot of mistakes. When I wanted to come back it was too late.”
Botic faces Jack Draper in the third round.
Botic van de Zandschulp · US Open
Cory · August 30, 2024 at 1:22 pm
Just wanted to mention Botic bets paid 28 to 1. Unreal. A $100 wager on Carlos paid I believe $2-3.
He’s also incredibly non-clutch IMO, but completely flipped that script last night.
Cory · August 30, 2024 at 1:23 pm
Even after being up 2-0 in sets, Botic was still a live underdog. People still believed Carlos would overcome even with a 2 set handicap.
Scoop Malinowski · August 31, 2024 at 12:06 pm
Cory, you wonder where this version of Botic has been? Looks top 5 or 10 caliber. Second time now after a big major loss to Novak that Carlos has crashed. How bad would it look for tennis for a double positive test player to win his next GS.