Carlos Alcaraz had never lost a set to Botic van de Zandschulp as he entered the court for their second-round match on Thursday night at the US Open.
Van de Zandschulp, meanwhile, had recently become so discouraged with his results that he had openly contemplated quitting tennis altogether.
The world No.74 might be reconsidering that position after what transpired at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Dutchman dominated an out-of-sorts Alcaraz in a monumental upset, winning 6-1 7-5 6-4 to take his place in the third round – and blowing the second quarter of the men’s draw wide open.
With No.7 seed Hubert Hurkacz’s loss to Jordan Thompson earlier on Thursday, 10th seed Alex de Minaur is the highest-ranked player remaining in this section.
Thompson, De Minaur or Van de Zandschulp, or one of the five others also alive in that quarter – Jack Draper, David Goffin, Tomas Machac, Dan Evans and Matteo Arnaldi – will reach their first major semifinal.
“Actually, I’m a little bit lost of words,” Van de Zandschulp said on court, after beating Alcaraz for the first time in three meetings.
“It’s been an incredible evening here. First time for me, night session, on Arthur Ashe. Crowd was amazing, so thank you for that. Yeah, unbelievable night.”
This would have been a stunning upset regardless of how Van de Zandschulp had been playing ahead of this year’s US Open.
Alcaraz had won three of the last five Grand Slam tournaments, including the rarified Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in 2024. He backed up those major trophies by reaching the Paris 2024 Olympic singles final, narrowly losing to Novak Djokovic to earn a silver medal.
The young Spaniard is also a former US Open champion – it’s where he won his first major title in 2022 – and reached the semifinals last year in New York.
He was 39-8 this season, and targeting his third consecutive Grand Slam singles trophy.
If this result had come a couple of years earlier, it perhaps would have been more understandable.
Interestingly, it was at the US Open in 2021 where both Alcaraz and Van de Zandschulp broke through to reach their first major quarterfinals.
Van de Zandschulp was a little-known qualifier ranked 117th at the time, but showed clean-hitting promise to upstage top-15 players Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman during his run to the last eight.
He peaked at world No.22 a year later, but suffered what proved to be a devastating defeat in the Munich final of April 2023.
There, Van de Zandschulp led Holger Rune 5-2, 40-15 in the third set, and on the brink of his first ATP title ultimately held four championship points, before losing.
Ever since then he struggled, losing his next five matches, and failing to get past the second round at his next six Grand Slam appearances. He arrived at the US Open this year with an anaemic 11-18 win-loss record at tour level.
Injury, he revealed, also played a role in his ongoing struggles.
The lowest point came at Roland Garros in late May, while he was ranked outside the top 100.
After a 6-1 6-1 7-5 first-round loss to Fabio Fognini, Van de Zandschulp told Dutch media it was the worst match he had ever played, and was contemplating quitting because he was no longer looking forward to playing matches.
Yet he persisted, and subtle signs of a resurgence followed when he reached two Challenger finals on clay in July, restoring some long-lost momentum.
He revealed he also gained a shot of confidence from his first-round match in New York, where he beat former world No.10 Denis Shapovalov in straight sets.
“I think from point one [against Alcaraz] I believed here today that I could make a chance, and yeah, you see how it sometimes turns out,” said Van de Zandschulp, into the third round at a major for the first time since Wimbledon 2022.
“I think my coach wanted me to be a little bit more aggressive, so yeah, I think I did really well today.”
Indeed, Van de Zandschulp consistently pressured Alcaraz by advancing on the net 35 times and winning 28 points – a sparkling 80 per cent success rate.
He hit more winners and less unforced errors than the Spaniard, who admitted he was slightly shell-shocked by what unfolded.
“I don't know what to say right now,” said Alcaraz after suffering his earliest loss at a major in more than three years.
“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. So I was confusing a little bit. I didn't know how to manage that, how to deal with it.
EXPERT PICKS: Who will win the 2024 US Open?
“I couldn't increase my level. 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’s not too late for Van de Zandschulp, however, to make another deep run at the tournament that kick-started his rise in the game.
Facing Draper next, we’ll see just how much his once-plentiful confidence has been restored.