Botic van de Zandschulp, who defeated world number three Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open on Thursday, considered quitting less than three months ago.

Tired of playing despite the pain of a nasty injury and demoralised by previous defeats after his ranking had dropped and he was unseeded for tournaments, he decided to play a few lower-level Challenger events to rebuild his confidence.

“The tour is tough,” said van de Zandschulp, ranked 74th. “You can play well, but you can (still) only play two matches a week if you play well. If you are not seeded in a tournament, you can play against (Jannik) Sinner in the first round.

“You can play well, but in the end you will still lose a lot of games.

“I needed more confidence after Wimbledon. I played a few Challengers in Europe. I think that boosted my confidence.”

Van de Zandschulp said it was not a difficult decision to play the Challengers.

“I think I’ve already gotten over the hard part, going from 25 to 70 sacks, not being seeded. I was just happy to play more games, win more games.”

He took control early against Alcaraz but admitted he was waiting throughout the match for the Spanish star to improve his game.

“You think he is one of the best players in the world, he is going to reach the next level,” said van de Zandschulp.

“Even in the third round you think he’s going to come up with something special, and I broke him again pretty quickly.”

Van de Zandschulp knew Alcaraz’s aggressive playing style and said he tried to “get ahead of him”.

“I tried to reach the net but he couldn’t,” said the Dutchman, who was still enjoying his performance an hour after the end of the match.

“I’m still processing it,” he said. “Maybe in a couple of hours or tomorrow I’ll feel a little more emotional about what happened tonight.”

bb/dj