Alcaraz gets revenge on Van de Zandschulp in Rotterdam
Carlos Alcaraz won against Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-1 on Tuesday evening. He’ll face the winner of the match between Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the next round
Carlos Alcaraz of Espagne during the ABN AMRO Open 2025, ATP 500 Tennis 16 eme Finale event on 4 January 2025 in Rotterdam, Netherlands – Photo Laurent Lairys / PsnewZ
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Carlos Alcaraz doesn’t care how it comes, he just wanted to get the win today against his recent nemesis Botic Van de Zandschulp. The Spaniard achieved his goal on Tuesday evening, taking the scenic route to a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-1 victory to avenge his shock loss to the Dutchman in the second round at last year’s US Open.
Alcaraz’s loss to Van de Zandschulp in New York last year was the biggest story of week one at at the 2024 US Open. The 2023 champion, who had won the previous two majors of 2024, bowing out to a man who had never notched a Top 5 win at a major before? Of course, it was fodder for the New York papers.
“When I wanted to come back or I think I wanted to come back, it was too late,” a heavily disappointed Alcaraz said at the time.
Though he didn’t play a perfect match on Tuesday in his Rotterdam debut, Alcaraz did demonstrate much more resilience, twice rallying from a break down to take the set in a tiebreak.
“I think it was a lot of ups and downs in the match,” Alcaraz said. “Being down in the first set, being set point down in the first set. I think Botic played a really solid match.”
The second set saw the script flip, as Van de Zandschulp reasserted himself, but Alcaraz took his level up in a decider to finally surge past the home favorite and book his spot in round two.
“I’m just really happy to get through, being focused and not being down in the tough moments,” Alcaraz said. “Just keep pushing, just keep going, and trusting that the good tennis is going to come again.”
All in all it’s a good win for Alcaraz, who will be happy to get back into a groove after bowing out to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. The Spaniard improves to 5-1 on the young season, and sets a clash with either Felix Auger-Aliassime, last week’s winner in Montpellier and one of the best indoor players in men’s tennis, or Andrea Vavassori.
In his sixth career indoor hard court event, Alcaraz is bidding to lift his first such title. Alcaraz finished with 29 winners against 48 unforced errors, while Van de Zandschulp hit 12 winners against 40 unforced errors.
“It was different,” Alcaraz said of the conditions in Rotterdam. “I started really nervous. The first match in every tournament is never easy, you have to get used to it.”
Rotterdam ATP 500, other first-round results (Rotterdam Ahoy, hard, EUR 2.563.150, most recent results first):
- Matteo Berrettini vs. Tallon Griekspoor
- Andrea Vavassori vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
- Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Fabian Marozsan
- Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
- Arthur Fils vs. Constant Lestienne
- Lorenzo Sonego vs. Holger Rune
- Pedro Martinez Portero beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 6-3, 6-2
- Andrey Rublev (4) beat Zhizhen Zhang: 6-3, 6-4
- Jakub Mensik beat Alexander Bublik: 6-4, 6-4
- Alex De Minaur (3) beat David Goffin: 6-2, 6-4
- Jiri Lehecka beat Alexei Popyrin: 7-5, 6-2
- Mattia Bellucci (Q) beat Mees Rottgering (WC): 6-3, 6-2
- Daniil Medvedev (2) beat Stan Wawrinka (WC): 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-1
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (6) beat Harold Mayot (Q): 6-1, 7-5
- Hubert Hurkacz (8) beat Flavio Cobolli: 6-3, 6-2
People in this post
More tennis news
Health, life without tennis, rivalry with Federer and Djokovic: Nadal discusses retirement
Romania, Grand Slam champ, Mouratoglou, drugs: Everything you always wanted to know about Simona Halep (but never had time to find out) – updated with retirement announcement
Simona Halep announces retirement after first-round loss in Cluj
Cluj-Napoca Open: Stearns books spot in second round
Cluj-Napoca Open: Bronzetti reaches second round
