Van de Zandschulp claims his “variety” bothering big players as he adds Djokovic scalp after Alcaraz and Nadal

Botic van de Zandschulp added another feather to his cap on Saturday as he beat 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the 2025 Indian Wells Masters second round (6-2, 3-6, 6-1). The outcome meant the Dutchman has defeated Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal in less than a year.

Van de Zandschulp shook the tennis fans in New York last year when he upended Alcaraz (6-1, 7-5, 6-4) in the US Open second round. Months later, he, on national duty, stopped Spain’s Nadal from winning a match in his farewell Davis Cup (6-4, 6-4).

After beating the Serbian giant, the world No 85 claimed the secret to his success against big players lies in the variations he brings on the tennis court.

“I think beforehand, if I play those guys, I know I have to be there the whole match to be mentally stable, be calm,” Van de Zandschulp told the media at Indian Wells after downing Djokovic. “Yeah, and I played pretty well in the rallies. I can defend. I can also attack. Go to the net. So, I think I have a pretty variety in my game, so maybe that’s what is bothering them.”

The 29-year-old further noted his opponent struggled to adjust to the new Indian Wells court and the weather:

“I think conditions were pretty tough today. I the bounces were pretty high. He was struggling a little bit with the bounces. Not timing the ball that well. He was a lot of times with the forehand a little bit too high. The ball bounces pretty high if I play the second serve. Yeah, very tough conditions. The sun wasn’t easy. At some point we had some shade and sun in the stadium. Overall maybe I handled the conditions a little bit better today.”

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Carlos Alcaraz was maybe the toughest one.”

Botic van de Zandschulp

The Dutchman claimed that beating Alcaraz at the US Open significantly instilled the belief in him that he could take the challenge to big players and eventually outperform them.

“Even before that I played some pretty good matches against top 10 players,” Botic van de Zandschulp added. “But, yeah, definitely against Carlos, I was believing I could beat the guys like Carlos. Also against Novak, it’s helping that you beat Carlos last year at the US Open.

“I think like playing Rafa last match was mentally quite a tough match, to play it in Spain as well. But, yeah, Carlos was maybe the toughest one. Because beforehand, you didn’t really know you had the possibilities to beat guys who are running the game these days. Yeah, that was a good first step.”

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