Botic van de Zandschulp is not a man accustomed to the limelight. Especially compared to the player he faced in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night, the human media-magnet whose name is Carlos Alcaraz.
With the possible exception of the No. 74-ranked Dutchman himself, the world of tennis was shocked when van de Zandschlup upset Alcaraz in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4. As a result, the man whose name no one can pronounce (more on that in a second) finds himself in the spotlight—as well as into Round 3 of the 2024 US Open.
Let’s start by trying to nail the pronunciation of his name, which van de Zandschlup guides us through in this helpful video. It means “from a sandy seashell” in Dutch, in case you were wondering.
Next, here’s the reason why most people don’t get much practice pronouncing the triple-barreled moniker: Until his Round 2 clash with Alcaraz, the 28-year-old Dutchman hasn’t played the kind of tennis that garners a lot of attention. At least not recently. From a high rank of No. 22 in August 2022, van de Zandschlup slipped to No. 115 in April. Because he wasn’t getting seeded, or even qualifying, for tournaments, he was playing Challenger matches this year—and considering retirement.
“I got injured,” said van de Zandschlup about the foot pain that plagued him. He recalled thinking to himself, “If I have to keep playing with the pain… then there was a chance maybe that I would stop playing.”
That was after Roland Garros this spring, where he lost in the first round to Fabio Fognini. Van de Zandschlup decided to give himself until the end of the year to “see how everything was progressing.”
Fair to say that after pulling off the 2024 US Open’s biggest upset thus far, things are progressing nicely. And this isn’t the only time van de Zandschlup has gone deep at Flushing Meadows. In 2021, he came through the qualifiers to play in the quarterfinals, losing in four sets to eventual champ Daniil Medvedev. New York City has been a “lucky” place for him, he says.
But, as always, while the Dutchman says that winning gives him “a big confidence boost,” he doesn’t let it go to his head. If the player has a brand, it’s all about staying “unbelievably stable.”
For now, the man from Wageningen, the Netherlands, is focused on his next match, against England’s Jack Draper, seeded No. 25. “I think a really good player. Big serve and big strokes,” he said. “So it’s going to be, again, a really tough match.”
