Carlos Alcaraz returned to competition with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Roman Safiullin in the first round of the US Open, marking his first singles match in more than four and a half months. The Spaniard, playing without any warmup or match preparation, showed no signs of rust as he dominated from the baseline, firing 20 forehand winners against just nine forehand unforced errors.
Nervous start but instinct takes over
Alcaraz admitted he was nervous before the match, but as he edged closer to the conclusion of his first set, instinct took over. Up 5-4, 30-15 in set one, he swept forward to the net behind a precise wide serve. When Safiullin responded with a dipping backhand return directly to his feet, Alcaraz delicately pushed a half-volley over the net for a winner—a shot that showcased the creativity and feel that have been missed during his extended injury layoff.
That moment of genius was followed by a wide smile, a quick hold, and a stellar performance. Alcaraz's wrist, which had kept him out of action, was pain-free throughout the match. "It's pain-free right now," Alcaraz said. "I felt great. I don't know how it looked from outside but, from inside, my feeling was that I was hitting normal. I was playing pretty normal, playing my style, and the arm, the wrist, everything felt great. I'm going to still take care of it, obviously, these days and before the matches and everything, but I'm just really happy it's pain-free finally."
Serve speeds a concern
One curiosity in Alcaraz's game was his serve. He averaged just 113mph behind his first serve, keeping speeds low. Alcaraz has worn tape under an arm sleeve in all of his matches and practices, and it is logical that he should treat the wrist cautiously by not trying to serve as hard as possible so soon into his comeback. However, not being able to win many free points will have a bearing on how far he can go in the tournament.
Safiullin's enormous ball striking made this a particularly curious first-round match, as it was tough to say how Alcaraz's wrist would hold up while absorbing such pace. From the beginning, Alcaraz shook off his own lingering doubts by eviscerating his forehand, the best in the world, throughout the match. He struck it brilliantly from the outset, dominating from the baseline, and the few times he trailed in service games, he hit himself out of trouble.
Emotional return watched by family and Travis Scott
Alcaraz's first day back was watched by his parents, brothers, his team, and even the rapper Travis Scott from his box. "It was a difficult day for me, to be honest, but at the same time, a really beautiful one," Alcaraz said. "[I] started the day really nervous. Really, really nervous. Thinking 'I'm going to make it, I'm going to compete again.' I had more nerves than usual, but just happy, because for me, my goal here is to compete, to enjoy, and let's see how my body's going to react after the matches, after the competition again."
With so much uncertainty ahead, Alcaraz has no choice but to take things day by day. "I don't know how far I'm going to go in the tournament. 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. But what I just really want to do is enjoy every time that I'm going to walk into the court feeling the energy from the people, feel the competition, walking up, I'm thinking, all right, it's match day. That's what I'm going to do this tournament."
