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Carlos Alcaraz - Australian Open 2024
ATP Tennis Players, Carlos Alcaraz, Tennis News, US Open Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz reveals ‘the problem’ after shock US Open defeat


Carlos Alcaraz has described his shock defeat at the US Open as ‘a fight against’ himself, after the Spaniard suffered his earliest ever exit from the New York major.

Alcaraz was beaten by World No.74 Botic Van De Zandschulp, 6-1 7-5 6-4, in the US Open second round last night.

This was the current Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion’s earliest exit from a major tournament since 2021, back when he was only 18-years-old.

When speaking in press after the match, Alcaraz seemed perplexed about what had happened on Arthur Ashe Stadium, “I don’t know what to say right now. I think he played great. He played really good tennis. I thought he was going to give me more free points. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes that I thought he was going to do. 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.”

The 21-year-old continued, “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.

“What can I say? I didn’t feel well hitting the ball. I think I made a lot of mistakes. When I wanted to come back or I think I wanted to come back, it was too late.”

It has been a tough US Open hard court season for Alcaraz, who had not won a match leading into the final major of the year.

And the 2022 champion appeared very down on his performance after hitting 27 unforced errors, admitting that he is ‘not changing’ in difficult moments.

“There was a lot of emotions I couldn’t control, it was kind of up in some points, then I lose in some points and it gets down,” explained Alcaraz. “It was like a rollercoaster in my mind – it can be like that if I want to think about big things. I have to improve it, I have to learn about it.

“There’s a few matches that I’ve felt like that, where – after every match that I felt like that – I always said the same: I said to learn about it, I have to think about it. If I’m feeling what I’m thinking right now, I’m not changing. That’s the problem.”

The four-time major winner added, “If I’m going to sit here after the matches that I feel or I felt like that I couldn’t deal with it, that I couldn’t change the match, couldn’t push up a little bit and say I have to think about it, I have to learn about it, I’m never going to change. It’s going to be really tough if I want to improve, so I can’t say much about it.

“It was a fight against myself, my mind, during the match. In tennis, you are playing against someone who wants the same as you – to win the match. You have to be as much calm as you can, you have to think better during the match and try to do good things. Today I was playing against the opponent and I was playing against myself, in my mind.”

It has been a busy few months for Alcaraz, having won Roland Garros, Wimbledon and a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, with the World No.3 suggesting that he probably did not have enough time to prepare for the US Open.

“The tennis schedule is so tight. I’ve been playing a lot of matches lately, you know, with Roland Garros, with Wimbledon, Olympic Games,” said Alcaraz. “I took a little break after the Olympic Games. I thought it was enough. It was really helpful for me. Probably it wasn’t enough.”

While a lot of the conversation has surrounded Alcaraz, it is also key to point out the tough year that Van De Zandschulp has had, having not won back-to-back matches on the main tour until the US Open this year and thinking about retirement back in May after dropping outside the top 100.

The Dutchman will now move onto the play in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in two years, with the 28-year-old taking on Brit Jack Draper on Saturday.

Alcaraz’s exit means that this section of the draw has completely opened up, with one of Van de Zandschulp, Draper, David Goffin, Tomas Machac, Alex de Minaur, Dan Evans, Matteo Arnaldi or Jordan Thompson set to reach the semi-finals in New York for the first time.

Inside the baseline…

This is one of the biggest shocks we have seen in a very long time, especially when you consider the different trajectories that these players have been on this year. Carlos Alcaraz has not looked himself in either Cincinnati or New York, with it seeming like there is still some hangover from the heartbreaking loss in the Olympic final to Novak Djokovic. A lot of credit has to go to Botic Van de Zandschulp though, with the Dutchman completely opening up the men’s singles draw.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.