After initial difficulties, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Daniil Medvedev all overcame the challenge to advance to the third round of the 2024 US Open. But Carlos Alcaraz did not.
Entering the latest match of round 2 on the morning of August 30 (Vietnam time), the Spanish tennis player met Van de Zandschlup, ranked 74th in the world. In the two previous meetings, including the 2021 Australian Open, Alcaraz won without losing a set.
However, this meeting was very different. When Alcaraz affirmed before the tournament that he came to the US without worrying about injury, so when he lost 2 sets in a row, the question was obviously about his mentality when approaching the match.
Alcaraz was broken by the Dutchman in his first service game and quickly fell behind 3-0. Another break in game 6 saw Zandschlup close out the first set 6-1 in just 31 minutes.
Alcaraz is the type of player who, when his mentality is down, will not be easy to pull back. So, even though he still had some great shots, he did not have any winners in the first set, making 8 unforced errors.
When Alcaraz pulled the score to 5-4 in the second set, it seemed stable but in reality, the 21-year-old tennis player was still not stable. As a result, he was broken again at the end of the set, Alcaraz lost 5-7.
Set 3 was a must-win for Alcaraz if he wanted to make a comeback. The second seed tried to look comfortable but in reality, Zandschlup was too consistent with his shots on the other side of the net.
Even though he had to play a long game or go to the net, combined with his effective serving ability, the 28-year-old player continued to break 2 games of Alcaraz, ending set 3 with a score of 6-4, creating the biggest shock at the 2024 US Open up to this point.
Alcaraz's earliest Grand Slam exit since Wimbledon in 2021 - also in the second round (to Medvedev).
After the 2024 Olympic silver medal (lost to Djokovic), Alcaraz was also eliminated early in the second round of the Cincinnati Open.
