"Harder than Jannik Sinner's draw in Australian Open" - Fans react to Carlos Alcaraz's Rotterdam 2025 draw, starting with US Open conqueror Zandschulp

The difficulty of Carlos Alcaraz's draw at the 2025 Rotterdam Open, starting with his US Open conqueror Botic Van de Zandschulp, sparked discussions among tennis fans. The Dutchman stunned the tennis world when he decimated the Spaniard 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round of the New York Major last year.

Following a terrific start to the 2025 season with a high-quality Australian Open, it's time for tennis to resume with the first 250 event of the year, the Rotterdam Open. With the defending champion Jannik Sinner pulling out of the event, his rival Carlos Alcaraz has entered the competition as the top seed. He will joined by the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and others.

The draw of the Rotterdam Open has been unveiled with top seed Carlos Alcaraz taking on Botic van de Zandschulp in the opening round. Following this, he could play another tough opponent in Felix Auger-Aliassime. The path only seems to get harder with a potential quarterfinal with Holger Rune and a semifinal with Andrey Rublev.

If he passes these tests to reach the final, he could face second seed Daniil Medvedev for the title.

Alcaraz fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to react to the difficulty of his draw. One fan opined how this was harder than Jannik Sinner's run at the Australian Open.

"Harder than Sinner's draw in Australia," the fan opined.

Another fan joked about the possibility of Carlos Alcaraz losing to the Dutchman again.

"Round 1 exit against botic of all people is gonna hit like crack," the fan joked.

Here are some other reactions from tennis fans.

"No way not botic again, my guy has trauma," a fan quipped.

"This is tougher than his Australian Open draw," another commented.

"He should be winning this if he is serious," a fan opined.

"Carlos Alcaraz’s Rotterdam draw: R1- Go home," a fan joked.

The draw of the Rotterdam Open promises some mouth-watering clashes from the get-go. Some other clashes include Daniil Medvedev vs Stan Wawrinka, Holger Rune vs Lorenzo Sonego, and Hubert Hurkacz vs Flavio Cobolli.

Interestingly, Daniil Medvedev teased the Spaniard about his shocking defeat after their semifinal clash at the 2024 China Open.

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"I was going to dye my hair blonde, put a sign with Botic's name on my chest" - Daniil Medvedev teases Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz and Medvedev - Source: Getty

Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz played in a fiery semifinal clash at the 2024 China Open. But it was the Spaniard who ended up clinching a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 win and eventually went on to win the event.

During the ceremonious post-match handshake, the two men seemed to have shared a light-hearted moment where the Russian seemed to have said something amusing to Alcaraz. When asked about it during the post-match handshake, Daniil Medvedev revealed that he teased Carlos Alcaraz about his loss to Botic van de Zandschulp.

"I told him that, for our next match, I was going to dye my hair blonde and that I was going to put a sign with Botic's name on my chest."

Interestingly, Van de Zandschulp troubled the Spaniards yet again when he defeated Rafael Nadal in what turned out to be the final match of his professional career. The Dutchman also defeated Alcaraz in doubles in the deciding match of their quarterfinal tie at the 2024 Davis Cup Final, bringing an end to Nadal's illustrious career.