Alcaraz was vying to become the third person in Open era history to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open all in the same year, behind Rod Laver and Rafael Nadal.
But against world number 74 Van de Zandschulp, who won 6-1 7-5 6-4 for the highest-ranked victory in his career, the Spaniard never recovered from a sluggish start.
Alcaraz’s 15-match winning streak at Grand Slams is ended by the loss.
“I believe that throughout the match, my performance remained constant, and it was insufficient to either win the match or provide myself with an opportunity to advance or try to give myself chances,” Alcaraz stated.
Hitting the ball didn’t feel good to me. I believe I made a great deal of errors. It was already too late when I decided to return, or at least thought I would.
Throughout the game, the 21-year-old committed 27 unintentional mistakes, compared to Van de Zandchulp’s 21.
