Two top-10 players have been eliminated already in the men’s draw at the 2021 United States Open. On Tuesday, in the first round, Maxime Cressy of the United States upset the ninth-seed, Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6, and then on Wednesday, in the second round, Casper Ruud of Norway, the eighth-seed, was upset by Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
For van de Zandschulp, it was the first time in his career that he reached the third round of a major. Currently ranked 117th in the world, the 25-year-old Dutchman beat Ruud with his serve. Van de Zandschulp had nine aces, compared to Ruud’s four aces, and had 50 winners, compared to Ruud’s 27 winners. In the first round, Ruud delivered a very routine win, as he beat Yuichi Sugita of Japan with relative ease in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Ruud was to face 2008 French Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the first round originally, but Tsonga pulled out because of an undisclosed injury.
Like the van de Zandschulp win over Ruud, no one saw Cressy beating Carreno Busta. Cressy, who is 24-years-old, was initially born in Paris, France, and then moved to the United States during high school, and represents the stars and stripes rather than the vertical stripes of the red, white and blue. At 151st in the world, Cressy only won his third career match at a grand slam event. He previously beat Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the 2020 United States Open, and then lucky loser Taro Daniel of Japan, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the first round of the 2021 Australian Open.
Carreno Busta meanwhile is a two-time semifinalist at the United States Open. Many will remember the Spaniard as being the winner in the fourth round of his well-publicized match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia of the 2020 United States Open. Djokovic lost when he was ejected due to the fact the hit a linesperson in the throat with the ball.
