Alcaraz moves to US Open third round after beating Faria

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Carlos Alcaraz’s US Open title defense is still alive after escaping Portugal’s Jaime Faria, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the third round of the Grand Slam tournament on Sept. 2, 2026, at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

After dropping the first set, Alcaraz found a way to disrupt Faria’s baseline rhythm and deployed the necessary adjustments to win the next three sets.

The Portuguese challenger immediately came out smoking hot with an early surge, catching Alcaraz off guard with an aggressive groundstroke game and on-point returns.

Once Faria broke the 4-all deadlock with a break point, Alcaraz failed to break back, allowing the confident netter to dish out huge serves to draw first blood with a 1-0 lead.

However, Alcaraz’s championship pedigree became the star of the show in the last three sets as the seven-time Grand Slam winner hit efficiently from all angles to strangle Faria, neutralizing his court coverage by adding more depth to his baseline game.

Alcaraz also shrugged off an error-prone first-set outing and became more decisive, especially on his returns, after struggling to convert his break-point chances in the first set.

Just like in his first-round performance against Roman Safiullin, Alcaraz stepped on the gas pedal midway through the third set, pummeling Faria with ruthless baseline attacks packed with a variation of topspin and flat winners.

After grabbing a double-break lead in the fourth and final set, Alcaraz didn’t waste any time as he stormed to the net to prevent long rallies and abandoned the baseline exchanges.

When Faria ran out of options to turn the tables, Alcaraz smelled blood and went for the kill, holding his final service game to continue his quest to claim the final Grand Slam title of the year.

After two hours and 40 minutes of tennis action, Alcaraz capped the win with 43 winners and converted seven of 12 break points.

Up next for the defending US Open champion is Chinese challenger Wu Yibing, who earlier swept James Duckworth, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1, to formalize his third-round qualification.