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the third seed Carlos Alcaraz bowed out of the ongoing US Open 2024 edition in a shock defeat to Netherlands' Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the men's singles.

The Spaniard lost to Zandschulp in straight sets, 1-6, 5-7, 4-6 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. With this, the world number three's bid to become only the third man in the modern era to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same season also came to an end.

Notably, the 21-year-old Alcaraz had at least reached the quarterfinals in his three previous appearances in New York, however, his latest defeat marks his earliest exit at a Grand Slam following his second-round ouster at the Wimbledon in 2021.

Following his win over Alcaraz, Dutchman van de Zandschulp said, "I'm a little lost for words. It was an incredible evening out here in my first time in the night session on Arthur Ashe. I had some unbelievable points at the net. I tried to stay calm. You have to keep your head against these guys otherwise they will take advantage."

This became Van de Zandschulp's second career win over a top five player.

Alcaraz came into the contest with his left thigh heavily strapped. He had even struggled to win convincingly in the first round, needing four sets to see off Australian qualifier Li Tu. However, the strapping proved least of his problems with the Spanish sensation clearly looking off colours.

He dropped serve twice in the opening set, squandered break points in the second game of the second set as his mistakes proved costly. In the second set, the Dutchman made Alcaraz pay the price with a break of his own for a 2-1 lead in front of a stunned crowd. While the 2022 champion levelled the score at 2-2, Van de Zandschulp stormed past him and eventually took the penultimate set (7-5) when Alcaraz fired a service return wide.

The script remained the same in the third set as Van de Zandschulp dominated and claimed victory when Alcaraz fired his 27th and final unforced error of the one-sided affair. Thus, this became the Dutchman's first win over the Spaniard.

Additionally, Van de Zandschulp became the first Dutchman to defeat a top three player at a Grand Slam since Richard Krajicek went past former world number one Pete Sampras in the 1996 Wimbledon quarters. Moreover, he is the first from Netherlands to achieve the feat at the US Open since his coach Paul Haarhuis ended Boris Becker's run in the third round of the 1991 edition.