The 21-year-old Spaniard was kicked out of the tournament after losing 1-6, 5-7, 4-6.
Carlos Alcaraz is out of the last Grand Slam tournament of the year - the US Open. The third-seeded Spaniard surprisingly lost to Bottic van de Zandshulp, in three sets – 1-6, 5-7, 4-6, in about two hours and 20 minutes of play.
The world number 74 achieved the biggest victory of his career, eliminating one of the favourites for the trophy and champion of the 2022 competition. The first set was completely dictated by the Dutchman, who made an early break and then completely controlled the events on the court. In the next two parts, Alcaraz showed a fight, but in both sets the development was identical - a break for Van de Zandshulp, a return from the Spaniard and another one for the Dutchman, which turned out to be decisive.
Alcaraz conceded a total of six breaks, far from his good service standards. Van de Zandshulp, for his part, won cleanly, although he also struggled on the opening stroke - two aces against a total of seven double faults. The two finished with an identical number of winners - 22 to 21 for Van de Zandshulp, and the 21-year-old Alcaraz made six more unforced errors - 27 to 21. The game at the net was also key - the Dutchman finished with an 80% success rate there.
Thus, one of the big favourites among men is out. Van de Zandshulp will play 25th seed Jack Draper of Great Britain in the third round.
World No. 1 Yannick Syner had a clean sweep of Alex Mickelsen. The home representative proved no obstacle for the Italian, who stepped into the pre-tournament spotlight after it emerged he had tested positive for doping twice at the Indian Wells tournament in March. Syner dropped a total of six games to Mickelsen, a finalist from Winston-Salem.
Daniil Medvedev also recorded a clear victory. The 2021 champion and fifth seed saw off Hungary's Fabian Marozhan 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (5). The 10th-ranked Alex de Minor from Australia and the American Tommy Paul (14) continue to advance, but Hubert Hurkac (7) and Sebastian Korda (16) dropped out of the tournament. | BGNES
