Tennis, US Open: Former champions Alcaraz, Osaka knocked out in 2nd round; Sinner, Swiatek progress
Elena Rybakina withdrew from her second round clash against French qualifier Jessika Ponchet due to injuries.
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Former champions Carlos Alcaraz and Naomi Osaka were knocked out of the 2024 US Open on Thursday as the final Grand Slam of the year lost two of its biggest crowd-pullers.
Alcaraz, the world No 3 and 2022 champion in New York, was stunned by Dutch world number 74 Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Osaka, who counts the 2018 and 2020 US Opens amongst her four career majors, slipped to a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) loss at the hands of 52nd-ranked Czech Karolina Muchova.
Alcaraz had made at least the quarter-finals in his three previous appearances in New York. Thursday's defeat was his earliest at a Grand Slam since a second round exit at Wimbledon in 2021.
Defeat ended his dream of becoming only the third man in the modern era to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same season.
“The tennis schedule is so tight. I’ve been playing a lot of matches lately with Roland Garros, with Wimbledon, Olympic Games,” said Alcaraz who lost a draining Olympics final to Novak Djokovic in Paris just over three weeks ago.
“I took a little break after the Olympic Games. Probably it wasn’t enough. Probably I came here with not as much energy as I thought that I...
