Carlos Alcaraz gave full credit to Botic van De Zandschulp Thursday night at the US Open, after the Dutchman pulled off a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 stunner in Arthur Ashe Stadium. But the third-seeded Spaniard, champion here in 2022, was facing a second opponent in the second round: himself.
"It was a fight against myself, you know, in my mind during the match," he said in his post-match press conference. "In tennis you are playing against someone that wants the same as you, to win the match, and you have to be as calm as you can just to think better in the match and try to do good things."
Ultimately, the two-front battle proved too tough for the 21-year-old, who felt let down by his mental conditioning.
"Today I was playing against the opponent, and I was playing against myself in my mind," he continued. "I mean, a lot of emotions that I couldn't control... I was up in some points, then I lose some points, I get down. It was a rollercoaster, let's say, in my mind. So I can't be like that if I want to think about big things, so I have to improve it. I have to learn about it."
Alcaraz has already achieved big things many times over in his young career, winning four Grand Slam titles—including each of the two previous majors. But his internal struggles blocked him from finding his best level against van de Zandschulp.
The third seed had some flashes of brilliance and recovered an early break in sets two and three. Still, each time he tried to shift into a higher gear, he stalled.
"I couldn't increase my level," he said bluntly. "I think my level stayed at the same point all the match, and it wasn't enough to win the match or to give myself the chance of getting into the match or trying to give myself chances.
"So, you know, what can I say? I didn't feel well hitting the ball. I think I made a lot of mistakes. When I wanted to come back or I think I wanted to come back, it was too late."
Alcaraz was out of answers on the court, and that uncertainty followed him into the press room. The only thing he could say with certainty is that his opponent played a high-quality match.
"I don't know what to say right now," he said at the very start of his remarks. "First of all, I think he played great. He played really good tennis. I thought he was going to give me more points. I'm going to say more free points, you know.
"He didn't make a lot of mistakes that I thought he was going to do. So I was confused a little bit. I didn't know how to manage that, how to deal with it."
