Carlos Alcaraz reached the US Open second round, but his serve emerged as the biggest concern after a 139-day absence from singles competition. The Spaniard walked onto Arthur Ashe Stadium to begin the defence of his title following a wrist injury that sidelined him for just over four months, and he beat Russia's Roman Safiullin 6-4 6-4 6-4.
Alcaraz, a seven-time major winner, played with a compression sleeve on his right arm and repeatedly relied on his forehand. That stroke supplied the bulk of his 28 winners, and he punctuated points with clenched fists and shouts of "vamos" aimed at his team. He smiled freely during the match and even sang along to Michael Jackson during a change of ends, a reminder of his enjoyment on court.
After the match he said, "I missed the crowd, the energy, the competition, I missed everything," adding he had come to the tournament to enjoy himself. He also reflected positively on his feeling during play, saying, "I felt great. I don't know how it looked from outside, but from inside, my feeling was that I was hitting normal." Pat Cash, on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, observed it looked as though "every little win" was celebrated by Alcaraz.
Despite those signs, the serve was weaker than usual. The defending champion produced just two aces and five double faults, though he landed 68% of his first serves and won 66% of the points behind them. He admitted, "The serve is the shot I was struggling [with] the most," and vowed, "I'm going try to serve better. ... But it will be back, for sure."
Alcaraz acknowledged pre-match doubts about lasting through extended encounters, saying, "There were some doubts in the match, I'm not going to lie," and that he needed "more matches under the belt to get again into the rhythm of the tournament." He closed with optimism, "I'm pretty sure I'm going to get better and better every day."
Progress in the draw now takes him to a second-round match against Portugal's Jaime Faria, ranked 72. The path to a repeat title looks comparatively open: world number one Jannik Sinner is absent with a knee problem and Novak Djokovic fell in the first round to Argentina's Mariano Navone, while Alcaraz, as second seed, sits on the opposite side of the draw to top seed Alexander Zverev. Alcaraz is also bidding to become the first man to defend the US Open title since Roger Federer won five in a row from 2004 to 2008.
