With wins now over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal & Carlos Alcaraz, giant killer Botic van de Zandschulp picks which was most special

Lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp scored a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over 24-time Major champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open 2025 on Saturday, March 8. The Dutch player has been on a roll, and this wasn't his first high-profile win in recent months.

Van de Zandschulp also beat Rafael Nadal in front of his home crowd at the Davis Cup in November 2024, in what was the final match of the Spaniard's career. He knocked Carlos Alcaraz out of the US Open a few months before that as well. Not many players have tallied such impressive wins within a short time span.

When Van de Zandschulp arrived for his post-match press conference at Indian Wells, he was asked to name which of these three wins was the most memorable for him. It was quite tough for him to do so, given the different circumstances surrounding each match.

While it was difficult to play against Nadal due to the atmosphere at the Davis Cup, Van de Zandschulp ultimately singled out his win over Alcaraz as his best. The 21-year-old is the heir apparent to the throne vacated by the greats, and getting the better of him boosted his confidence as well.

"Yeah, I think they're all different. I think like playing Rafa last match was mentally quite a tough match, to play it in Spain as well. So, yeah, that's never easy. But, yeah, I think Carlos was maybe the toughest one. Yeah, because beforehand, you didn't really know you had the possibilities to beat guys who are, yeah, running the game these days. So, yeah, I think that was a good first step," Van de Zandschulp said.

Van de Zandschulp displayed the same level he did to beat Alcaraz during his win over Djokovic. Even though he was helped by the Serb's errors, he didn't waver from his own game plan despite what was happening on the other side of the net.

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Botic van de Zandschulp credits his win over Carlos Alcaraz in helping him beat Novak Djokovic at the BNP Paribas Open

Botic van de Zandschulp at the BNP Paribas Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Botic van de Zandschulp cited his win over Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open 2024 as being instrumental in his triumph over Novak Djokovic at the BNP Paribas Open. While he had lost quite a few of his matches against top players before that, he showed immense self-belief during his match against the Spaniard.

Knowing that he had already beaten one of the very best in the business, Van de Zandschulp used that to his full advantage to one-up Djokovic. He elaborated on the same during his press conference.

"Yeah, I think so. Even before that I played some pretty good matches against top-10 players. But, yeah, definitely against Carlos, I was believing I could beat the guys like Carlos."

"But also against Novak it's helping that you beat Carlos last year at the US Open. So I think it's all about self-belief before you go on court and really think you have a chance to win during the day. But, yeah, it has to go all my way," van de Zandschulp said.

Following his win over Djokovic, Botic van de Zandschulp will next take on 25th seed Francisco Cerundolo in the third round. This will be the first career meeting between them. The latter beat Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 in the second round.