WHAT HAPPENED: Taking care of business. Jack Draper dismissed Carlos Alcaraz dismisser Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the Round of 16 for the second consecutive year at the 2024 US Open.
This one could have been tricky. Van de Zandschulp was coming off the biggest win of his life after taking out the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, and no doubt came into this contest brimming with confidence. But Draper put his head down and showed the crowd on Grandstand just why he’s sitting at a career-high ranking of world No. 25, employing his lefty serve and imperious forehand to great effect to claim the encounter.
“I thought I did a really good job overall,” Draper said after the match. “And I think my performance and everything got better as the match went on.”
Ultimately, van de Zandschulp could not consistently produce the penetrating shots that upended Alcaraz, though those groundstrokes were visible in patches. Draper rushed out to a 2-0 lead at the very start, after the Dutch player committed too many unforced errors in his first service game. Van de Zandschulp relaxed a bit and began to play more freely, earning break points in three consecutive Draper service games.
The British lefty withstood the pressure for the first two, but played one ill-timed drop shot too many in the third. (If there’s one thing fans learned about van de Zandschulp on Thursday, it’s that he enjoys any opportunity to chase down a drop shot.) This, incidentally, marked the first time through the entire tournament that Draper had been broken; he’d saved all five break points he faced in the first and second round.
The level score proved to be short-lived, however, as the world No. 74 again couldn’t seem to find the court. Draper would need five chances, but he eventually served it out to claim the first set, 6-3. The contrast in first-serve percentage points won ultimately made the difference. Draper claimed 79% of his, while van de Zandschulp could only conjure 58%.
Both played more cleanly to start the second set, and the pair stayed on serve through the first six games. Again, though, the 2021 quarterfinalist continued to err at inopportune moments. At 3-3, he’d make three errors in a row, then lose the game on a double fault. His opponent’s serve proved to be impenetrable—in this set in particular, Draper would win six of nine second serve points. The Brit took a two-set lead.
The crowd on Grandstand more emphatically got behind van de Zandschulp in the third, cheering him on after every point. He started to find more success coming forward, winning all seven of his points at the net through the first four games. Still, he couldn’t seem to harness any momentum and his subpar serving day only got worse. He dropped serve in the fifth game after hitting his fifth double fault. On his next service game, he’d hit his sixth, seventh, and eighth to ultimately drop serve again. Draper comfortably held to advance, fittingly ending the match on a forehand winner.
Draper was unfazed about the fact that the person on the other side of the net wasn’t Alcaraz—as was expected according to seeding. He knew he needed to play well regardless of the opponent.
“I watched that match obviously, and I know that on their day someone like a Botic is extremely dangerous,” Draper said. “I wasn't putting it past him to go out there and potentially have an upset against Carlos. But, you know, I think it is sometimes difficult when people are saying, ‘Oh, like, [I] should definitely win this match.’ He's just beaten the No. 2 in the world who's won multiple Grand Slams this year. He obviously played a really good match and can definitely beat me too…it was a good match from my side. I'm happy with the way I've dealt with the situation and my performance in general.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Draper now matches his career-best Round of 16 appearance at Flushing Meadows, which he also achieved last year as an unseeded player. It’s his best result at any major to date.
He’ll now vie to become the first British quarterfinalist at the US Open since Andy Murray, all the way back in 2016. To do so, he’ll need to overcome Tomas Machac, who eased past David Goffin in straight sets earlier in the day. Machac has won their sole previous tour-level meeting, though it came on the clay in Geneva.
MATCH POINT: Despite finally dropping one of his service games for the first time this fortnight, Draper continues to impress on break points. He saved 9 of 10 in Saturday’s match.
