Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz needed only a New York minute to hit his stride after a nearly five-month injury layoff, beating Russian Roman Safiullin 6-4 6-4 6-4 on Monday in the first round of the U.S. Open.
Alcaraz arrived at Flushing Meadows as one of the tournament's biggest question marks, having not played since April due to a wrist injury, but he had his best weapon working for him in his first singles match in 139 days as he sent over 20 forehand winners.
He next plays Portugal's Jaime Faria in the second round. "It's been a really tough five months for me," said Alcaraz. "I missed it - I missed the crowd, the energy, I missed competition, I missed everything."
Alcaraz got a brief U.S. Open warm-up in the mixed doubles with partner Serena Williams last week, and the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium was all too happy to see him return, heaping deafening cheers on the twice champion as he took to the court.
Alcaraz whacked a forehand winner out of Safiullin's reach for the break in the seventh game and looked to be back to his usual self as the Russian was unable to tame Alcaraz's lethal serve on set point. The Spaniard went down an early break in the second set but Safiullin gave up the momentum immediately as he sent a volley out on break point in the third game, never getting a handle on the match.
Alcaraz painted the line to go up another break in the seventh and was in total control in the third set, where he converted a break point with his powerful forehand. "There were some doubts during the match, I'm not going to lie," said Alcaraz. "I tried to forget everything. I tried to enjoy."
Earlier, Aryna Sabalenka’s bid for a rare US Open three-peat got off to a winning start as she dispatched Camila Osorio, while French rising star Arthur Fils suffered a surprise loss. World number one Sabalenka shook off her recent lackluster form to beat Colombia’s Osario 6-2, 6-4, in the Belarusian’s opening match at New York.
“I feel like this is one of my favorite stadiums,” Sabalenka said at the giant Arthur Ashe venue in Flushing Meadows, where she has won two of her four Grand Slams. Sabalenka has not won a tournament since her victory in the Miami Open in March, and was bundled out of Wimbledon in the fourth round by Naomi Osaka.
But she looked comfortable for most of her opener, landing several of her thunderous groundstrokes to see off her counter-punching opponent.
Recent Cincinnati Masters champion Fils suffered disappointment, losing his opening match to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. Fils, 22, entered the contest with the highest expectations of his career, having this month become the first French player to win a Masters 1000 in over a decade.
The Frenchman had won all five of his previous encounters with Tsitsipas. But Fils, ranked 11th, fell to Tsitsipas 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 6-4. “I am speechless, I don’t know what to say,” said Tsitsipas, a former top five player who has slumped to 53 in the world. “It’s an amazing start to the tournament.”
