Alcaraz Wins First Match In Nearly 140 Days

Carlos Alcaraz took to the court for a professional match for the first time in 139 days as he began his U.S. Open title defense inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday afternoon. The two-time champion in Queens defeated Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to book his spot in the second round. 

“I kind of forgot what match day looks like,” said Alcaraz. “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.”

When asked in his post-match on-court interview what he missed during his time off, Alcaraz simply said: “Everything.”

Alcaraz did show a bit of rust as his serve was inconsistent, winning just 66 percent of the points on his first serve, but was able to rise to the occasion in the big moments including saving five break points overall. 

He took advantage of his chances on the Safiullin serve, converting on four of his seven break point chances, hitting a modest 28 winners to 27 unforced errors over the course of the two hour and 22 minute match.

“It was a difficult day for me, to be honest,” he said. “At the same time, it was a really beautiful one. I started the day really nervous—really, really nervous. I had more nerves than usual. But I’m happy. My goal here is to compete, to enjoy it and to see how my body’s going to react after the matches, after the competition again. I don’t know how far I’m going to go in the tournament, but what I really want to do is enjoy every time that I walk onto the court, feeling the energy from the people, feeling the competition. Walking up, I was thinking, ‘All right, it’s match day!’”

Up next for the second-seeded Spaniard is Portugal’s Jaime Faria, who outlasted American Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 7-6(4), 4-6, 1-6, 6-2.

The top-ranked American Ben Shelton kicked off his campaign with a four-set victory in the first match of Monday’s Night Session on Ashe, defeating Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2.

“I found things really difficult in the first set tonight,” said Shelton. “Knowing that I was going to find my game as it goes was a big part of it tonight.”

Shelton came out sloppy in the opening set, and saw his serve get broken three times in that first frame alone as he piled up 14 unforced errors. 

But he responded in the second set by breaking Griekspoor in the first game of the ensuing set, and never really looked back. He hit just two unforced errors in the second set to even the score, and over the course of the final three sets, did not see his serve broken again. 

“I started off with a little bit of nerves tonight. I found my rhythm at some point through the second set,” Shelton added. “Obviously a lot of credit to Tallon, he’s a difficult player to play. He doesn’t give you a lot of rhythm. He has an attacking game style and I found things really difficult in the first set tonight.”

Shelton will next face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, a former Wimbledon semifinalist, who defeated Damir Dzumhur in four sets on Monday.