Alex de Minaur loses to Botic van de Zandschulp in US Open second round

Alex de Minaur has been dumped out of the US Open in the second round, falling in straight sets to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and 43 minutes.

De Minaur had never lost to the 30-year-old world number 70 in their previous four meetings, including earlier this year at the Rotterdam ATP event, which the 27-year-old Aussie won.

But on a night where he committed 29 unforced errors to van de Zandschulp's 21, as well as seven double faults in a sub-par serving display, the Australian world number seven faltered badly.

"I always had really difficult matches against Alex," van de Zandschulp said on court.

"Some tough ones as well, some close matches, but today I served very well, I think that was the difference today."

De Minaur saved three match points in the final game, but it was not enough, the Aussie leaving himself far too much to do.

After a brief pause where he stood on court in contemplation at his exit, de Minaur exited without looking back.

The defeat is de Minaur's earliest exit at the US Open in five years, at a slam where he has three times reached the quarterfinals.

With Novak Djokovic and Félix Auger-Aliassime both crashing out, de Minaur had been the fourth-highest seed left in the tournament.

But he was unable to make that opportunity count.

De Minaur was forced to wait until day four to get his tournament underway after rain caused the postponement of his round one clash with Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri.

The victory is van de Zandschulp's second over a top-10 player during this US hardcourt swing after he beat world number eight Daniil Medvedev at the Montreal Masters in August.

The one-time US Open quarterfinalist has made a habit of pulling off shock victories at Flushing Meadows.

He beat Casper Ruud on his way to the quarterfinal in 2021 and, in 2024, knocked out third-seed Carlos Alcaraz in the second round with a straight-sets win.