Carlos Alcaraz Triumphs in U.S. Open Return
NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz walked back into Arthur Ashe Stadium with nerves in his stomach, tape on his right wrist, and a grin that told the rest of the story.
Three sets later, the grin had the final word.
The 23-year-old Spaniard, playing his first match since April because of a right wrist injury, brushed aside Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Monday and, crucially, showed no sign that the layoff or the joint that cost him the French Open and Wimbledon is going to dictate his U.S. Open.
“I was playing pretty normal, playing my style,” he said. “The arm, the wrist, everything felt great.”
For the rest of the men’s field, that’s the worrying part.
Alcaraz back, and suddenly the path looks wide open
Alcaraz stepped straight into Grand Slam intensity without a warmup tournament, admitting he felt “more nerves than usual.” It didn’t last long. The longer the match went, the looser he became, the more his all-court game returned to its familiar swagger.
He held a hand to his ear to demand more noise. He punched the air after feathering a volley winner in the final game. Ashe responded like it always does when it senses a star who feeds off its chaos.
He insisted he arrived without expectations, just a desire to compete and see how the wrist would respond. He talked about walking onto court to feel the crowd, to feel the competition, not to chase a specific round.
But the landscape around him has changed dramatically in 24 hours.
No man has defended the U.S. Open title since Roger Federer’s five-year reign from 2004 to 2008. If Alcaraz’s wrist holds up, the door is suddenly swinging open for him in a way few anticipated. Top-ranked Jannik Sinner is out with a knee injury. No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic, unbeaten in 19 previous first-round matches at Flushing Meadows, is gone after a stunning exit on Sunday — his first opening-round loss here.
Djokovic has collected four of his men’s-record 24 majors in New York. His early departure jolted the draw. Alcaraz’s clean, confident return made it feel like a new order is ready to fill the vacuum.
He’s not talking about being the favorite. The tournament might do that for him.
Sabalenka chases a Serena-sized slice of history
Before Alcaraz took the court, Aryna Sabalenka had already restored a sense of normal service on Ashe.
The two-time defending champion opened her campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Camila Osorio, launching a bid to become the first player since Serena Williams from 2012 to 2014 to win three straight U.S. Open titles. She has reached the last three finals here, losing to Coco Gauff in 2023 before bouncing back to win in 2024 and again last year against Amanda Anisimova.
“I feel like this is one of my favorite stadiums,” she told the crowd. “I really experienced the best emotions here in this stadium.”
On Monday, she brought a new look with the same old intent.
Her bright orange Nike dress was covered by matching orange mesh, a switch from the black mesh she wore alongside Djokovic in mixed doubles last week — an outfit that sparked social-media chatter she had little time for. Sabalenka made it clear the only opinion that matters is her own. The real reason for the change, she explained, was more practical than provocative: she hadn’t realized she had separate day and night kits until she visited Nike.
The wardrobe may have changed; the urgency has not. Sabalenka arrived in New York on the back of stuttering results — fourth-round exits in Toronto, Cincinnati and at Wimbledon — and now needs help to hang onto the No. 1 ranking even if she wins the title again. No. 2 Elena Rybakina will overtake her by simply reaching the semifinals. If Sabalenka falls short of the trophy, Rybakina doesn’t need to win a match.
On Monday, at least, the tennis matched the outfit: sharp, bold, unapologetic.
Wawrinka’s farewell, Tsitsipas’ defiance
The day carried a farewell, too.
Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 champion and one of the few men of his era to regularly punch through the Big Three’s dominance, bowed out in his final Grand Slam match. The 41-year-old Swiss lost to Matteo Berrettini and then confirmed what his body and the calendar had long been hinting at.
“I’m going to miss it for sure. I’m going to miss it big time,” he said.
As one champion said goodbye, another former top-10 mainstay hinted he might not be done yet.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, unseeded at the U.S. Open for the first time, came from behind to knock out No. 10 seed Arthur Fils 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-4. Fils arrived riding high after winning the title in Cincinnati; Tsitsipas left with a reminder of why he once climbed to No. 3 in the world and reached two Grand Slam finals, both lost to Djokovic.
Asked if he can rediscover that level, the Greek didn’t blink.
“Why not?” he said.
On this evidence, the question feels less rhetorical than it did a month ago.
No. 8 seed Ben Shelton staged his own revival. Blown off the court in a 28-minute opening set against Tallon Griekspoor, in which he was broken three times, the American flipped the match with a barrage of power and emotion to win 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
A busy day for the Czechs, and a racket-smashing finish
The women’s draw moved briskly around the edges of Ashe.
No. 8 Iga Swiatek and 2017 champion Sloane Stephens both advanced, with two-time winner Naomi Osaka scheduled to take the night shift. Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, the No. 6 seed, joined them in the second round, as did No. 7 seed Karolina Muchova, who lost to her fellow Czech Noskova in the Wimbledon final.
No. 10 Amanda Anisimova, last year’s runner-up in New York, also moved through, keeping alive the prospect of another deep run at a tournament that has become central to her resurgence.
Not every Czech success story survived the day. No. 28 seed Sara Bejlek, who stunned Sabalenka in Cincinnati, fell in three sets to Cristina Bucsa.
On an outside court, No. 26 seed Emma Navarro and Lois Boisson played a match that refused to fit into one day. Rain forced them to stop Sunday and return Monday to finish what had become a test of patience as much as nerve. Navarro finally prevailed 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 6-3.
An ESPN camera caught the split-screen of tennis in one frame: Navarro, fist pumping toward the stands, while behind her Boisson repeatedly smashed her racket into the court.
One player moving on, another left with splinters and regret. It’s the U.S. Open in a single shot.
And now, with Djokovic gone, Sinner absent and Alcaraz pain-free again, New York is left to decide: is this the start of another era on Ashe, or the moment the field realizes the defending champion has just reclaimed his stage?
