Dutch tennis player Botic van de Zandschulp beat favourite for the US Open title Carlos Alcaraz in three straights sets on Thursday in front of stunned fans.

Van de Zandschulp, who ranks 74th in the world, won the first set 6-1 and followed up with more hard-fought wins of 7-5 and 6-4.

“I have no words” Van de Zandschulp said as he came off the court. “This has been an incredible night for me. I was nervous but if you want to beat a player of this stature you have to keep your head,” he said.

Never before has Alcaraz had to bow out as early in the tournament. Van de Zandschulp played “one of the best matches of his career”, local Spanish media said but it was “desastre total” for Alcaraz.

The player, who is ranked third, explained his raft of mistakes on the emotions of the summer when he won both Wimbledon and Roland Garros and became an Olympic finalist. “I took a step backwards, I’m not well, not strong. I lost control”, he said.

Alcaraz said that in a tournament like the US Open you have to be strong mentally but that “his head had not been in the right place”.

Van de Zandschulp is now the second Dutch player to beat a top-three favourite in the US Open. In 1991 Paul Haarhuis beat Boris Becker. The Dutchman’s next opponent is the 25th ranked British player Jack Draper.