Alcaraz Back With a Bang: Straight-Sets Win on US Open Return

139 Days Later: Alcaraz Walks Back Onto Ashe and Wins Convincingly

Carlos Alcaraz returned to professional tennis on Monday afternoon with a performance that left little doubt about his readiness to compete at the highest level. The defending US Open champion defeated Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 21 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium — his first singles match in 139 days following a right wrist injury sustained at the Barcelona Open in April.

The diagnosis had been tenosynovitis, an inflammation of the connective tissue surrounding the tendons of the wrist. The injury forced Alcaraz to withdraw from both the French Open and Wimbledon — two Grand Slams where he arrived as defending champion. His only competitive action in the intervening months was an appearance in mixed doubles at the same event that opened his injury. The gap between that and a main-draw Grand Slam match is, by any measure, significant.

It was not visible on Ashe. Alcaraz broke early in each of the three sets, defended with authority when Safiullin threatened to close the gap midway through the second, and closed each set with the kind of shot-making that defines his game at its best — flat forehand rockets, improvised drop shots, attempted tweeners that drew gasps and then applause from a crowd delighted to have their champion back. He saved five of the six break points he faced, which is as reliable a measure of competitive sharpness as any statistic in the match.

Relief After Months of Doubt

"I missed everything," Alcaraz said in his post-match interview. He admitted to having had "doubts in my head" about whether his body would endure a full best-of-five contest — uncertainty that is understandable for any player returning from a four-month absence. Those doubts were rendered irrelevant quickly. By the time the third set had begun, the question was not whether Alcaraz could finish the match but how soon he would.

The 23-year-old Spaniard enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed after world No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew before the event with a knee injury. Alcaraz and the absent Sinner are the only active men's players with US Open titles, making his run through the draw the central narrative of this fortnight. His next match will come against Jaime Faria, who knocked out American wildcard Jenson Brooksby in the opening round. Faria will ask more questions than Safiullin did, but nothing in Monday's display suggested Alcaraz is not equipped to answer them.

Alcaraz beats Lehecka to defend Tokyo title, first since wrist injury

An Open Draw, a Familiar Champion

The broader landscape of the men's draw has rarely felt more uncertain at this stage of a US Open. Novak Djokovic was eliminated in the first round on Sunday by Mariano Navone, ending more than 20 years of Djokovic reaching at least the second round at every Grand Slam he has entered. On Monday, Arthur Fils — the Cincinnati champion and one of the form players of the summer — fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets despite leading by a set and a break.

Top seed Alexander Zverev has not yet played as of Tuesday morning, and several other contenders still have first-round business to complete. Into that vacuum, Alcaraz has already placed his marker. He returned in straight sets, at his home Slam, as the player everyone else in the draw is trying to avoid. The wrist has held. The tennis is intact. The defence begins now.