Alcaraz wins his first match in four months, and wins it on the margins

Carlos Alcaraz had not played a competitive match since April. On Monday night he beat Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the US Open, and the scoreline was considerably more comfortable than the tennis: eight points separated the two men across three hours of it, 99 to 91. But the Spaniard won the vast majority of the key points.

His next opponent will be Jaime Faria from Portugal.

The seeded No. 2 and defending the title he won here last year, has now won eight consecutive matches at this tournament. He arrived having missed Roland-Garros, the grass season and the Cincinnati Masters 1000 with the wrist injury he sustained in the spring.

Safiullin served harder, averaging 192 km/h on first serve to Alcaraz’s 181, and hit more winners, 28 to 27. The difference was in the errors and in the decisive points. Alcaraz made 27 unforced errors to Safiullin’s 35, converted four of his seven break points while his opponent took one of six, and held serve in 14 of his 15 service games. He also won 19 of his 24 points at the net.

The two had met twice and won once each, Safiullin taking their first meeting at the Paris Masters 1000 in 2023, 6-3, 6-4, and Alcaraz winning at the Paris Olympics the following year, 6-4, 6-2.