On Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, a new face had his moment to shine.
And it came at the expense of Carlos Alcaraz.
Botich van de Zantschulp of the Netherlands etched his name into history with a stunning three-set victory over world number three and US Open favourite Botich van de Zantschulp, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Second round at USTA Billie Jean King Arthur Ashe Stadium
The event will be held at the National Tennis Centre on August 29, 2024. Larry Marano
The 21-year-old Alcaraz was off balance, made 27 unforced errors, converted just 40 percent of his break point opportunities and looked defeated and frustrated as he walked off court with the 2022 title in his hands.
So who is this Dutchman who dropped the star?
Van de Zantschulp, 28, is ranked 78th in the world and has a 38-29 record in men's singles matches, achieving his highest ranking of 14 times in the same year and reaching a peak of 22nd in August 2022.
With the win, van de Zantschulp became the first Dutchman to beat a top-three player at a Grand Slam since Richard Krajicek defeated Pete Sampras in the 1996 Wimbledon quarterfinals.
However, the fight against Alcaraz wasn't his first shocking upset, as he has defeated fan favorites before.
He beat Taylor Fritz, currently ranked 12th in the world, in the semifinals of the 2023 ATP Munich tournament, but lost to Denmark's Holger Run in the final for the second consecutive year.
He also defeated Norway's Kasper Ruud, currently ranked No. 8 in the world, on his way to the 2022 ATP Munich final, and in 2021 he reached the St. Petersburg semifinals by defeating Russia's Andrey Rublev, currently ranked No. 6 in the world.
Van de Zantschulp has also had success at the U.S. Open.
In 2021, the Wageningen, Netherlands, native became just the third male qualifier in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open and the first Dutch player since 2004 to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.
He hasn't improved or progressed more in any Grand Slam tournament since then.
Van de Zantschulp is 1-3 in Grand Slam matches this year before the U.S. Open.
He only made it to the second round at Wimbledon.
He entered Thursday night's match with a 12-18 singles record and a 5-13 overall record against top 10 players.
Van de Zantschulp, who turned professional in 2016, has been rumoured to be in a relationship with Flore Isabelle Hart since 2011. posted a series of photos She took to Instagram to take a photo with the tennis star on his 2022 birthday.
she He shared a post about van de Zantschulp's big win at the U.S. Open. she posted to her Instagram Story early Friday morning, along with three fire emojis.
Van de Zantschulp is coming off the biggest match of his career and will face 25th-ranked Briton Jack Draper in the third round on Saturday.
