Alcaraz makes triumphant tennis return in sweep over Safiullin

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Carlos Alcaraz is indeed back.

After 139 days of inactivity due to a wrist injury, the seven-time Grand Slam winner returned as if he had never left, handing Russia’s Roman Safiullin a straight-set defeat, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the ongoing U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Sept. 1, 2026.

Despite missing two Grand Slam tournaments in a row, Alcaraz still showed his lethal baseline aggression, tremendous court coverage, and magical drop shots that thrilled the thousands of tennis fans who flocked to New York to witness his highly anticipated comeback.

However, signs of early court rust derailed Alcaraz’s dream start, as he had to endure long rallies with Safiullin before finding his groundstroke rhythm midway through the first set.

Alcaraz’s serve still wasn’t efficient, preventing him from getting quick, easy points in the first four games while allowing Safiullin to dictate the pace by leaning on his consistent forehand attacks.

The turning point came when Alcaraz scored a much-needed break, followed by a perfect service hold to grab the momentum and take a 1-0 advantage.

Safiullin gave Alcaraz an early scare at the start of the second set with a quick break to go up 2-0, but the more experienced ace from Spain flipped the script, capping the set with a 6-2 run to frustrate the Russian challenger.

To climb back from the early deficit, Alcaraz had to incorporate plenty of flat returns to neutralize Safiullin’s big serves and display his offensive versatility.

From a baseline-oriented approach in the opener, Alcaraz decided to move Safiullin around with deft drop shots and more backhand winners.

It was all Alcaraz in the third set after he found his rhythm, shrugging off his early rally errors with more decisive down-the-line winners in the remaining four games.

Alcaraz applied the finishing touches in the ninth game of the set as he put on a show by capping a 13-shot rally with a signature drop shot on the right side of the court.

Needing only one point to advance to the next round, Alcaraz hit a well-placed backhand into no-man’s land, forcing Safiullin to commit an error on match point.

Alcaraz wrapped up his majestic tennis return with 99 total points won, including two aces, four break points, and 35 points on return.

“It was a really tough five months for me,” Alcaraz said after the win.

“As I said before the tournament, I couldn’t decide to comeback in the US Open here in New York, but this is really a special place for me and a special tournament for me. I will try to enjoy this, I miss this.”

Awaiting Alcaraz in the second round of the U.S. Open is Portugal’s Jaime Faria, who earlier took down American netter Jenson Brooksby, 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2.