6 unknown facts about Alexei Popyrin & Botic Van de Zandschulp, the men who stopped Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz at US Open 2024

Alexei Popyrin and Botic Van de Zandschulp registered wins against the two favorites for the US Open title. Van de Zandschulp defeated Carlos Alcaraz and Popyrin knocked out the defending champion Novak Djokovic just one day later.

Djokovic and Alcaraz won the gold and silver medals at the Paris Olympics respectively and started the tournament as favorites to meet again in the final of the US Open. However, an early exit has stunned the tennis world, handing Popyrin and Van de Zandschulp the biggest wins of their careers.

Both Popyrin and Van de Zandschulp are unknown entities for tennis fans. They are still making headway into their careers, but statement wins against the two best players in the world have announced them to the tennis world.

Here are some of the unknown facts about the latest US Open stars Alexei Popyrin and Botic Van de Zandschulp.

#1. Alexei Popyrin has trained at the Patrick Mouratoglou Academy

The Mouratoglou Academy is known for producing some of the best talents in the world, including the likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Popyrin also developed his skills at France's Mouratoglou Academy. The Australian star has now reached tennis stardom after his win against Novak Djokovic.

#2. Popyrin hails from a diverse background

Popyrin was born in Sydney, Australia. However, he has traveled throughout the world in his younger days. The Australian star moved to Dubai at eight years of age before moving to Spain. He later moved to France to train at the Mouratoglou Academy.

He is fluent in three languages, English, Russian and French, which reflects his diverse culture.

#3. Alexei Popyrin's father is the co-founder of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS)

The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) is an individual tennis league founded in 2020 by Patrick Mouratoglou and Alex Popyrin, father of Alexei Popyrin. This event was scheduled in response to the disrupted tennis schedule due to COVID-19.

Matteo Berrettini won the first-ever UTS defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. Since then, Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev and Jack Draper have all won the event.

#4. Botic Van de Zandschulp started his career late

Botic Van de Zandschulp is a late bloomer in the tennis world. The Dutch made his Grand Slam debut at the age of 25 and struggled to qualify for Majors in the past. Carlos Alcaraz defeated him in his maiden Australian Open match in 2021.

Now 28, Van de Zandschulp has avenged his defeat against the Spaniard, claiming the biggest win of his career at the US Open 2024.

#5. Van de Zandschulp became the first Dutch player since 2004 to make the Wimbledon quarterfinals

Van de Zandschulp was knocked out in the second round of his Wimbledon debut in 2021, however, the Dutchman came back strong the following year. He was seeded as No. 21 during his Wimbledon run in 2022, where he managed to reach the quarterfinal. He was eventually defeated by Rafael Nadal in the last eight, but his run was one for the history books.

He became the first Dutch player since Sjeng Schalken in 2004, to reach the last eight at Wimbledon.

#6. Van de Zandschulp started playing tennis at the age of four

Van de Zandschulp first picked up a tennis racquet at the age of four. He joined a tennis club in the town of Veenendaal and qualified for national training at the age of seven.

He played his first professional tournament in 2016 in the Dutch city of Breda. It took him another five years to make his Grand Slam debut at the 2021 Australian Open.