Carlos Alcaraz was supposed to be extremely vulnerable at the 2026 U.S. Open. And maybe he still could be.
But that’s not the way it looked on Monday afternoon.
While other title contenders either lost or at least struggled at times during their first-round matches, it was Alcaraz who delivered a surprisingly emphatic performance. Playing his first match in more than four months, the two-time U.S. Open champion defeated Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 22 minutes.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen in the match after four months and a half almost,” said Alcaraz, who had been sidelined since Barcelona in April due to a wrist injury. “You don’t know what’s going to happen in your body, in your mind, everything. It’s totally different.
“I just tried to play one game at a time and tried to feel good, to enjoy playing points, feeling the love from the people. Hopefully they enjoyed it. Yeah, after the match my body felt great. I’m just really, really happy that I made it (back) finally.”
Meanwhile, Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils got bounced out of New York right away by Stefanos Tsitsipas. Fils led by a set and a break before it all turned around en route to a four-set Tsitsipas win.
Along with Fils, Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe went into the tournament as top challengers to Alcaraz for the title. Both Shelton and Tiafoe are still alive, but not without some scares. Shelton dropped his first set against Tallon Griekspoor 6-1 before prevailing in four. Tiafoe needed five sets to outlast compatriot Martin Damm.
For basically everyone in the field, round one of a Grand Slam is all about surviving and advancing. That’s what Alcaraz did — and did it convincingly.
“I don’t know how far I’m gonna go in the tournament,” he admitted. “I didn’t know if I was going to lose this one, if I’m going to make the second round, final. I don’t know how far I’m going to go.”
Returns are still early, but it looks like the Spaniard could go very far.
nice one, Carlos
He really plays in a different league to anyone else, he’s so inventive and does so much variety, and makes that look easy and fun. If his wrist holds up and nothing else breaks, he could go all the way, which would be ridiculous after so long away from competition. But if he wins R2, then R3 should be a cakewalk for him.
Both Nakashima and Tien finished R1 with super impressive scorelines. Let’s see how they go next round. Tommy Paul played a quality match.
Khachanov was impressive and I’m guessing he will beat FAA comparing their R1 matches and their vibes. FAA looks inconsistent and a bit uncertain.
Vacherot played really well too. I’m looking forward to the remaining R1 matches.