U.S. Open: Carlos Alcaraz’s 15-match Grand Slam win streak ends

Carlos Alcaraz's Grand Slam winning streak ends with a loss to Botic van de Zandschulp at the U.S. Open.

Carlos Alcaraz’s 15-match Grand Slam unbeaten run ended at the U.S. Open with a sloppy 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 loss to 74th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round on Thursday (August 29, 2024) night.

Alcaraz won the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July to raise his career total to four major championships, including taking the title at Flushing Meadows in 2022, and was the pre-tournament favorite to leave with the trophy again.

But he never found his footing against van de Zandschulp, a 28-year-old from the Netherlands. Alcaraz was way off, repeatedly missing the sorts of shots he usually makes routinely. After double-faulting to fall behind two sets to none — a deficit he's never overcome — the No. 3-seeded Alcaraz slung his equipment bag over this shoulder and trudged toward the locker room.

Glancing in the direction of his coach, 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz pointed his right index finger at his temple, then wagged that finger, as if to say, “I’m not thinking straight.”

He might have been excused for being confused by what was transpiring under the closed retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium on a chilly evening.

The 21-year-old from Spain came in with a 16-2 record at the U.S. Open, where he never had been eliminated before the quarterfinals in three previous appearances. This also was Alcaraz’s earliest loss at any major tournament since bowing out in the second round of Wimbledon in 2021 as a teenager; he’s never lost in the first round at a Slam event.

The opening set Thursday was unbelievably lopsided. With van de Zandschulp’s powerful forehands and serves at up to 132 mph finding their marks, Alcaraz never seemed to get comfortable — even if he had won their past two matchups.