Alex de Minaur Shocked by Botic van de Zandschulp at US Open

Alex de Minaur’s US Open campaign ended with a jolt in the second round, swept aside in straight sets by Dutch opponent Botic van de Zandschulp in New York.

The Australian, expected to push deep into the draw, never found his rhythm and exited the tournament 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in a bruising contest that ran two hours and 43 minutes.

What began as a tight baseline duel slowly turned into a one-way march.

Van de Zandschulp, calm and methodical, took the opening set 6-4, edging the key points as de Minaur struggled to convert pressure into a breakthrough. The Australian chased, retrieved, and tried to lift the tempo, but the Dutchman’s weight of shot and consistency held firm.

The second set became the turning point. De Minaur pushed harder, dragged the rallies longer, and looked close to swinging the momentum. Yet every time he threatened, van de Zandschulp found a first serve or a clean strike to shut the door. The Dutchman again closed it out, 7-5, and the gap between them suddenly felt wider than the scoreline.

From there, the match ran away from de Minaur.

The third set belonged entirely to van de Zandschulp. He tightened his grip, broke early, and never looked back, racing to a 6-2 finish that underlined the scale of the upset. De Minaur, unable to claim a single set, saw his US Open hopes cut short far earlier than many had anticipated.

ABC News Australia framed the result as an unexpected defeat, and it’s hard to argue. For de Minaur, this second-round loss will sting. For van de Zandschulp, it’s the kind of straight-sets statement that can reshape a tournament.