Carlos Alcaraz Was ‘Very Fortunate’ His Comeback Match at US Open Ended in Straight Sets

Carlos Alcaraz made his much-awaited comeback to the singles tour at the US Open. On Monday (August 30), the Spaniard clinched a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win against Roman Safiullin, in what was also his first singles match since the opening round of the Barcelona Open.

Alcaraz injured his wrist in Barcelona, and it forced him to stay on the sidelines for nearly five months. He skipped both the French Open and Wimbledon.

But his first official match since the Barcelona Open was not the one against Safiullin. Before the singles events, the Spaniard teamed up with Serena Williams in the mixed doubles and lost in the quarterfinals.

Former British No.1 Greg Rusedski wondered what would have happened if Alcaraz had to play a five-setter in the singles first round. Rusedski cited the example of the Mariano Navone versus Novak Djokovic match, where the Serb suffered a five-set upset in a dramatic fashion, losing in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament for the third time in his career.

Well, the thing which we’re all concerned about, and all the players and people have talked about it, is: you usually start on a two – or three-set match. Let’s be honest, he was very fortunate that it was a straight-set match.

Greg Rusedski said on the Off Court with Greg podcast

Alcaraz will next be locking horns with Jaime Faria. The seven-time Grand Slam champion is bidding to defend his title in New York, where he also clinched his career’s first Grand Slam title back in 2022.

Imagine if he got someone like Navone, who played against Djokovic, who’s like the human wall, runs all day, you can’t make a hole through. But Safiullin can be flaky at times, he can get very nervous, and we can see him miss balls he should make, and the tension got to him. So, this was the perfect opener for him. The test for Alcaraz is going to be when he gets pushed in a very physical, long match that goes four or five sets.

Greg Rusedski added

Carlos Alcaraz after winning his 1st match back in 4 months at the U.S. Open:

“I missed EVERYTHING.” 🥹 pic.twitter.com/2kvl5s55ln

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 31, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz admits he was nervous during his first-round match

Carlos Alcaraz forgot what it feels like to play a match after returning from a long injury hiatus. That’s why the former World No. 1 struggled with nerves during the match.

I kind of forgot what match day looks like. I didn’t actually remember what I used to do in the warm-up. That’s why I was really nervous, because I just kind of forgot the competition.

Carlos Alcaraz said at the press conference

Alcaraz has already played three finals this season. After winning the Australian Open by beating Djokovic and the Qatar Open by beating Arthur Fils, the 23-year-old lost the Monte-Carlo Masters final to his arch-rival Jannik Sinner.

The five-time Grand Slam champion is not playing as he is dealing with a knee injury. He was last seen in action in the final of Wimbledon, where he defeated Alexander Zverev in four sets and defended his title.

Alcaraz met Sinner only once this year, in Monte Carlo. In Alcaraz’s absence, Sinner not only defended his Wimbledon crown but also won the Madrid Open and the Italian Open by beating Zverev and Casper Ruud, respectively.

Win or no win in the New York Slam, Alcaraz won’t be able to dethrone Sinner from the No.1 ranking. The Italian has 11,500 points in the live rankings. If Alcaraz defends his title, he will have 7,160 points. The Murcia native lost his No.1 ranking to Sinner after losing the final in Monte Carlo.

Also read: Justine Henin Sounds the Alarm Bells on Novak Djokovic’s Future After US Open Exit: “Best is Behind Him”