Carlos Alcaraz said he was fighting himself as much as Botic van de Zandschulp as he slumped to a stunning US Open second-round defeat on Thursday. “Today I was playing against the opponent, and I was playing against myself, you know, in my mind,” he said. “I mean, a lot of emotions that I couldn’t control. I was up in some points. Then I lose some points. I get down. It was a rollercoaster, let’s say, in my mind,” added the World No. 3, who was trying to become just the third man in the modern era to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year. 

Level of play, a surprise