Alcaraz Surprised in Second Round Exit at US Open

The US Open witnessed with astonishment the collapse of Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz in the second round, leaving Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic as the clear favorites for the last Grand Slam of the season. Italian Sinner, the world number one seeking his first New York title, advanced to the third round on Thursday without difficulty, where Djokovic, hunting for his 25th Grand Slam trophy, was already positioned.

The initial trio of favorites dwindled overnight with the collapse of Carlos Alcaraz, who suffered his worst defeat on a grand stage at the hands of Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, ranked 74th in the world. The 2022 US Open champion and winner of three other Grand Slam trophies, Alcaraz was overwhelmed by his emotions and Van de Zandschulp's exceptional tennis until he succumbed 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to the astonishment of thousands of spectators at Flushing Meadows' central court.

The first signs of alarm appeared when Alcaraz lost the first set in just 31 minutes without managing a single winning shot against a confident Van de Zandschulp. The Spaniard made several timid attempts to react but lacked both accuracy and energy. "Today in my mind I was playing against the opponent and against myself. There were many emotions I couldn't control," admitted Alcaraz.

At 21 years old, Alcaraz aspired to add another achievement to his prodigious career. The player from El Palmar (Murcia) had the opportunity to string together victories at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open, a feat achieved only by his idol Rafael Nadal (2010) and the legendary Rod Laver (1969) in the Open era.

Instead, Alcaraz faced his first second-round elimination in a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2021 on a night where neither his extraordinary talent nor his competitive fire was evident. "Mentally I'm not well, I'm not strong; when problems arise I don't know how to control myself and that's a problem," acknowledged Alcaraz.

Following his successes at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the former world number one suffered painful defeats in the final of the Paris Olympics against Djokovic and in his debut at the Cincinnati Masters 1000, where he was seen smashing a racket in anger for the first time.

Before Alcaraz's match, Sinner took to Arthur Ashe's central court, sweeping aside American Alex Michelsen, aged 20 and ranked 49th by ATP, with scores of 6-4, 6-0, and 6-2. The Italian, who had dropped a set in his opener, showed no mercy this time against Michelsen, whom he had already defeated earlier this month en route to winning the Cincinnati Masters 1000 title.

Sinner thus secured his 50th victory of a season in which he solidified himself at the top of the circuit by winning his first major trophy at the Australian Open along with four other titles. However, the number one also recently featured in this year's biggest tennis scandal with his double positive doping tests for clostebol. The cases occurred in March but were kept secret until last week when Sinner was cleared after an investigation determined that the positives were due to unintentional contamination. Russian Daniil Medvedev was another contender who advanced to the third round by defeating Hungarian Fabian Marozsan with scores of 6-3, 6-2, and 7-6 (7/5).