Carlos Alcaraz fehlten die Worte. „Ich weiß nicht, was ich gerade sagen soll“, begann der Spanier, als er nach einer Erklärung für sein vollkommen überraschendes Aus gegen den Niederländer Botic van de Zandschulp in der zweiten Runde der US Open suchte. Mit einer desolaten Vorstellung hatte der spanische Superstar unfreiwillig für eine der größten Überraschungen der jüngeren Tennis-Geschichte gesorgt – und sich dabei selbst nicht wiedererkannt.
„Heute habe ich gegen einen Gegner und gegen mich selbst gespielt. So viele Emotionen, die ich nicht kontrollieren konnte. So darf das nicht sein, wenn ich Großes erreichen will“, sagte Alcaraz nach der glatten 1:6, 5:7, 4:6-Niederlage gegen die Nummer 74 der Weltrangliste, die ihn schockiert zurückließ: „Also muss ich es verbessern. Ich muss das lernen.“
Völlig unerwartet platzte am Donnerstagabend (Ortszeit) der Traum des Weltranglistendritten vom dritten Grand-Slam-Titel in Folge – 15 Spiele in Serie hatte der French-Open- und Wimbledon-Champion bei einem Major gewonnen, ehe eine der größten Enttäuschungen seiner jungen und erfolgreichen Karriere folgte.
„Ein unglaublicher Abend“
Bei einem Grand Slam war er zuletzt vor mehr als drei Jahren vor der dritten Runde ausgeschieden, 2021 in Wimbledon. Vor zwei Jahren hatte Alcaraz in New York noch seinen ersten Major-Titel gewonnen. Für van de Zandschulp ist es der bislang größte Sieg seiner Laufbahn.
“This is an incredible evening, the first time at Arthur Ashe,” said van de Zandschulp: “From the first point on, I believed that I had a chance.” It was only the twelfth victory for the Dutchman on the ATP Tour in the entire season.
Olympic silver medalist Alcaraz started the tournament in the US metropolis as the top favorite, along with Grand Slam record champion Novak Djokovic and world number one Jannik Sinner. For Sinner, who would have waited for Alcaraz in a possible semifinal of the young stars, the path to the final at Flushing Meadows now seems clear.
Alcaraz shakes his head
Maybe after the exhausting tennis year, including the Olympic final loss against Djokovic, he “didn’t have as much strength as I thought,” said Alcaraz, who did not want to use that as an excuse for his poor performance on Thursday.
He never found his game against the Dutchman, and Alcaraz lost the first set after just 30 minutes. Van de Zandschulp continued to play well above his level, Alcaraz continued to make mistakes, kept shaking his head in disbelief and gave van den Zandschulp the decisive break in the second set with a double fault.
Alcaraz had never turned a match around in his professional career after being 0-2 down, and this time was no different. Van de Zandschulp remained the better player, even if Alcaraz briefly broke into a smile. After around two and a half hours of play, the Dutchman used his first match point to win – and left the tennis world amazed.
Osaka: “My heart is dying”
Naomi Osaka also suffered a heavy defeat. She did seem to have found her smile again and it seemed that the two-time US Open champion had overcome the initial disappointment of losing her comeback year as a mother. But she described her state of mind in drastic terms.
“It’s difficult because I always take these defeats very personally,” said the 26-year-old tennis star from Japan after her second-round loss to Czech Karolina Muchova. “That’s a dramatic word, but it feels like my heart dies every time I lose.”
For the first time since her return from pregnancy, Osaka was back on the court under floodlights at Arthur Ashe Stadium. In a high-class match, she held her own against last year’s semi-finalist Muchova 3:6, 6:7 (5:7), but had to admit defeat in the decisive moments. “I got nervous during the pressure moments,” said the 2018 and 2020 winner, describing her feelings. “But once I have overcome the disappointment, I will feel proud.”
Osaka returned to the professional tour earlier this season after the birth of her daughter Shai in July 2023. This year, she did not make it past the second round at the four biggest tournaments, but faced strong opponents in each one. “I had fun at every Grand Slam, it was a learning year for me,” said the former world number one.
She said she wasn’t the best version of herself in 2022 before her break, so she has a lot of catching up to do. “It was fun to play so many tournaments,” Osaka said. Two years ago, she reported depression and anxiety and later took a longer break.
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