Carlos Alcaraz hoped to win the 2024 US Open for the second time in his young career (after winning in 2022) and become the youngest player ever to win five Grand Slam titles. The young Spanish champion was defeated in the second round by a very inspired Botic van de Zandschulp, who has perfectly exploited one of the worst versions of Carlitos in recent years.
The former world number 1 has made many unforced errors and let himself be overwhelmed by frustration instead of finding an alternative plan to turn the match around. The four-time Grand Slam champion has suffered from summer fatigue, in which he played many matches achieving exceptional results.
In 2024 the Spaniard won the French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, the Masters 1000 of Indian Wells and the silver medal at the Olympics in Paris, where he suffered a painful defeat against Novak Djokovic in the final. The 21-year-old from Murcia had already shown signs of fatigue during the Cincinnati Masters 1000 – in which he lost to Gael Monfils – but no one expected such a premature elimination in New York. The current number 3 in the world – who last year reached the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows – must probably give up any chance of finishing the year at the top of the ATP ranking.
Alcaraz will help Spain
Alcaraz must quickly forget the disappointment at the US Open and avoid immediately the same decline as last year, when he did not win a title after the amazing triumph at the Wimbledon Championships. The young Spaniard will help his country in the Davis Cup from 10th to 15th September in Valencia. Along with him, there will be Pedro Martinez, Roberto Bautista Agut, Marcel Granollers and Pablo Carreno Busta. In addition to Spain, there will also be Australia, France and the Czech Republic. The first two teams of the group will compete in the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga in November.
Recently, Paula Badosa defended Carlitos after his shocking loss at the US Open: “I know it will always be like this, but it never ceases to amaze me to read negative comments about a guy who has won two Grand Slams, has been number 1, won a silver medal in the Olympics, and will win much more. Everyone is human; it’s part of our job. We should be cheering him every day.”
One of the players who benefited most from Alcaraz’s elimination is definitely Jack Draper, who qualified for the round of 16 by easily beating van de Zandschulp in the third round. During the press conference, the British player commented on the Spanish ace’s defeat: “He’s achieved so much this year, winning the French and Wimbledon. I’m not surprised that they’re probably feeling really tired and emotionally a bit drained. Even Popyrin last night, he won Montreal. I watched the opening two sets before I went to bed. I didn’t honestly feel like Djokovic was playing incredibly badly. Maybe his serve was a bit below par, but I felt like Popyrin played an incredible match as well. There’s a lot of players on the tour at the moment who are really dangerous and on their day can play an amazing match against the best players in the world.”
Carlitos looked tired
World No.1 Jannik Sinner also reflected on Alcaraz and Djokovic’s losses: “As we see, anything can happen in this sport. I try to stay on my side of the net. Taking it day by day. Each opponent is a tough challenge. Trying to enjoy every moment on the court. There have been a couple of upsets. Let’s see what’s coming. I’m happy to still be here and hopefully play as many matches as possible.”
The Spanish ace still has too many drops of concentration during matches and must improve quickly in this respect. The former world number 1 had also taken a big risk in the first rounds at the Wimbledon Championships, where he was put in difficulty by Frances Tiafoe and Ugo Humbert.
“I was struggling with myself, in my mind, during the match. In tennis, you fight against someone who wants the same thing as you, victory, and you need to stay calm and think things through better to carry them out” – the 4-time Grand Slam champion stated after his match against van de Zandschulp. “I was playing against him and against myself, in my mind. Too many emotions that I couldn’t control. It was like a rollercoaster. Sometimes I was up, sometimes down. I can’t be like that if I want to win a tournament like this” – he concluded.
