Four months without a competitive match. Then a lost opening set against the world No. 72. Carlos Alcaraz picked an odd way to remind Flushing Meadows who is defending this title.
One loose forehand and the set was gone
The Spaniard beat Portugal’s Jaime Faria 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 overnight to move into the third round in New York. That scoreline hides how uncomfortable the first forty minutes were for him.
Faria served big at 3-3 and took the break. Alcaraz had let a break point slip moments earlier, then dumped a forehand at exactly the wrong time, and the Portuguese held the lead to the end of the set without wobbling.
“Tough match for me,” the world No. 2 said afterwards. He blamed himself rather than his opponent. “I didn’t take my time, I wasn’t patient and it cost me the break.”
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6-0. That was the answer.
Whatever Alcaraz told himself between sets landed immediately. The second set lasted barely half an hour, Faria won nothing in it, and the pace off the ground climbed until the Portuguese had no answer left from the baseline. Two more sets followed, both comfortable. Four sets, done.
Context matters here. Alcaraz had not played in New York since April. A wrist injury cost him four months and two Grand Slams, Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, events where he would have started among the favourites.
His last major came in Melbourne in January, a seventh Grand Slam title. Nobody, him included, knew what version would turn up at Flushing Meadows this fortnight.
A kind draw, and a player refusing to panic
The first round had already hinted at it. Roman Safiullin was dispatched in straight sets with no drama at all. The second round asked a harder question, and the answer arrived inside a single set.
He is defending a title on almost no hard-court preparation, and the draw ahead of him stays generous for now. “I tried to stay calm and tell myself good things would come back,” he said.
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