After the incident of Botic van de Zandschulp’s anger against Carlos Alcaraz | ATP Tour

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Behind the scenes of Botic’s shocking upset against Alcaraz

Insights from coach Peter Lucassen and Paul Haarhuis

August 30, 2024

The outrage of the year began at an Italian restaurant in Manhattan. Botic van de Zandschulp and his team enjoyed a meal on Wednesday evening at a restaurant they have been going to throughout their stay in New York. Little did they know that the next day their world would be turned upside down like pizza dough.

Van de Zandschulp stunned four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday evening in the second round of the US Open with the biggest win of his career. According to his coach, Peter Lucassen, there was not much that was different for the Dutchman compared to the usual game.

“The truth, [we were] I’m just going over the same things. Watching the film, and a lot of it was about his own game, his own mind, his own vision there. That was a big deal,” said Lucassen. “I think Botic can control that and he wanted to control that, so that was a big thing. And of course, playing someone like Alcaraz, he knew he had to bring the best, and I think that’s what he did. He did a good job of that, controlling everything he could do really well. “

On Thursday morning, van de Zandschulp went to the gym, which is normal for the 28-year-old on the morning of an evening game. The No. 74 player in the PIF ATP Rankings went to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center later in the day, where he practiced indoors at Arthur Ashe Stadium at 6 p.m.

“The way he was warming up to Ashe, he was hitting the ball very well. He traveled a lot. He controlled himself really well, so it was nice to see,” said Lucassen. “And he was open-minded, so that was all good.”

The men’s match was the second of the evening after Karolina Muchova defeated Naomi Osaka. They played the second set of their match and took a 40/0 lead, but they couldn’t close. Muchova won in straight sets.

“He is very focused and prepared. “So already in the second set, a few games in, we went to the gym, and he was doing his warmup and all that,” said Lucassen. “We were all ready to go and for a while, we were thinking, ‘OK, this is going to be three, let’s rest’. But then it turned around, and he was ready to go.”

In his pre-match interview just before entering the world’s biggest tennis court, van de Zandschulp shared his opinion that he will need help from Alcaraz. The Dutchman had a message from his team, including Dutch Davis Cup captain Paul Haarhuis.

“To be aggressive, to play his own game, and try that if you get a chance, take the opportunity to go forward and try to enter, don’t wait for him to play his game more and rely on him, or trust that he makes a mistake,” said Haarhuis. “The quality of these guys is too good to believe. You have to bring him to him, and you have to take it to him, and that’s what we told him.”

Peter Lucassen and Paul Haarhuis”.
^{Peter Lucassen and Paul Haarhuis. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.}
Van de Zandschulp did just that and never took his foot off the gas in the second round. Champions often find a way to overcome deficits, but Alcaraz couldn’t turn the game around.

“The second time I was thinking, ‘Okay, he’s playing well now, Alcaraz is going to have to play three really good sets to turn it around’,” Haarhuis recalled. “He can play maybe one good set, he can play two sets, but then he’s still alive, and it’s the fifth set only. So at that point, I felt like, ‘Well, we’re seeing a lot of anger here’.

Haarhuis is familiar with major upsets at the US Open. In the third round of 1991 he surprised World No. 1 Boris Becker. Two years earlier, World No. 115 at the time outranked World No. 4 John McEnroe in the second round.

“When I played McEnroe a few years ago, in 1989, I didn’t know what to expect. Would I win a few games? Was I going to make it a tough match?” Haarhuis said. “Then I won one set against this guy, maybe I could win two sets. I won two sets, maybe I could win three sets. I ended up winning in four sets and that changed my tennis career, because from then on, I felt anybody what I play, if I play well, I can beat him.

“I think that will do for Botic as well, I think, ‘I have this level in me. So, really, I shouldn’t be afraid of anyone’. Alcaraz played really well yesterday, Botic played better. So he has to believe that every time he steps on the court and does his best, he can beat anybody.”

Lucassen explained, “We all know that Botic is not the type of guy to lie down or bring all the fist pumps.” But the coach said after the game that the Dutchman was “really proud of himself”.

The team returned to the hotel around 2:30 am, slept until 8:30 am and focused on the whole competition. Van de Zandschulp will next play 25th seed Jack Draper to reach his second round of the US Open.

“I think the biggest thing is to take the positive energy that he created this time, try to carry that into the next game tomorrow,” Lucassen said. “Now it’s 0-0 again in the next game, and Draper is a top player. They practiced together. They know each other well, they have never played in a real game. But it will also be a whole new battle there. ”