Alex de Minaur OUT of US Open after shock second round exit

[p]It was another massive US Open scalp for world number 70 [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-de-zandschulp-botic/YwiLpILD/"]Van De Zandschulp[/a], who also eliminated [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alcaraz-garfia-carlos/UkhgIFEq/"]Carlos Alcaraz[/a] from the second round of this tournament in 2023.[/p][p]Van de Zandschulp completed a rollicking straight sets win inside three hours, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/de-minaur-a-EZgZ9Xfh/van-de-zandschulp-b-YwiLpILD/?mid=vNphZpKl"][b]6-4 7-5 6-2[/b][/a]. [/p][p]De Minaur appeared to struggle physically with having to play on consecutive days after his first round win over Andrea Guerrieri was pushed back by one day, a same fate his opponent suffered when winning in straight sets over Jan Choinski on Wednesday afternoon local time. [/p][p]The Aussie's first round match was 20 minutes shorter than that of Van de Zandschulp, who looked far sharper and fitter throughout the two hour and 45 minute clash. [/p][embed guid="ee7d5212-6e20-45dc-87e1-976ed768e240" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNyAPLh-qRQ" social-type="youtube" /][p]He didn't help himself with a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/de-minaur-a-EZgZ9Xfh/van-de-zandschulp-b-YwiLpILD/summary/stats/?mid=vNphZpKl"]first serve percentage of just 51%[/a], putting significant pressure on a second serve that saw him facing 11 break points. [/p][p]Van de Zandschulp broke once in the first set, twice in the second and twice again in the third as his seeded opponent wore out. [/p][p]It's de Minaur's earliest US Open exit in five years and caps off his worst Grand Slam circuit in three years, after reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian and US Opens in 2025 and the quarter-finals in all but the US Open the year prior. [/p][p]Van de Zandschulp had [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/de-minaur-a-EZgZ9Xfh/van-de-zandschulp-b-YwiLpILD/h2h/?mid=vNphZpKl"]never previously defeated de Minaur in four attempts[/a], the most recent of which was at a February event in Rotterdam.[/p][embed guid="b2cdc8eb-3728-406f-a948-ec9afafd68b7" url="https://x.com/usopen/status/2095661742621708748" social-type="twitter" /][infobox id="d39bc573-b9dd-4b87-acb9-2de1f22d36c7" /]