Carlos Alcaraz wins US Open return match against Roman Safiullin after wrist injury layoff

Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates winning a match against Roman Safiullin, of Russia. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK CITY: For two hours and 21-minutes on Arthur Ashe, Carlos Alcaraz’s game answered the big question that had accompanied his much-anticipated return to tennis. The 23-year-old Spaniard, playing his first match in 139 days after a wrist injury in mid-April, faced Russia’s Roman Safiullin in the US Open. He pummelled the ball, pulled off impossible gets and picked up shots off his shoelaces, turning defence into delicate winners on his way to a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win. Alcaraz opened his final service game with a volley winner, caressed inches above the ground, then turned to the crowd, calling for some love, hand on his ear. The spectators roared and Alcaraz’ smile sparked the sun. The second seed underlined that he was playing pain-free. “I felt great. I don’t know how it looked from outside, but from inside, my feeling was that I was hitting the ball normal. I was playing pretty normal, playing my style, and the wrist felt great. I'm going to still take care of it, obviously, I'm just really happy it's pain-free finally,” he told international media. The defending champion arrived on court in a dark-brown, almost espresso, ensemble, the fashion world’s warmer alternative to black. Alcaraz shed his overshirt to reveal an oversized ombré sleeveless tank, paired with matching brown shorts edged in a thick white trim. A narrow hairband held his unruly mop in place. A white compression sleeve covered the precautionary taping on his wrist. In a match of small margins, where Alcaraz, it appeared was doing just enough, he hit 28 winners, 20 of them off the forehand. He faced six breakpoints, with Safiullin converting just one. The 23-year-old converted four of the seven break points he earned, a difference that proved decisive. The second seed teed off on his returns, but was more controlled with his serve. Alcaraz, who enjoys amping up the speed upwards of 130 mph, hit a top speed of 128 in the first-round match. The average speed on his first and second serves was 113 and 97 respectively. “The serve is the shot that I was struggling the most,” he said, adding, “There are some players who like to return serves coming at 130 miles and when you serve a little bit slower they struggle a little bit. So most of that speed (generated) is because of him (opponent). It was kind of tactics.” “I just always struggle with the serve, but it will be back, for sure,” he said. For the seven-time major winner, who faces 23-year-old Jaime Faria of Portugal in the second round on Tuesday, the biggest shift was perhaps mental.

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“It was a difficult day for me, but at the same time, a really beautiful day,” he said. “I was really nervous. Really, really nervous, but also just happy, because, for me, my goal here is to compete, to enjoy, and let's see how my body's going to react after the matches.” Alcaraz explained, “I had forgotten how a match day feels like. I was warming up, and I don't remember actually what I used to do, in the warm-up. So to kind of get that feeling again. That's why I was really nervous, because kind of I just forgot the competition.” “I don't know how far I'm going to go in the tournament,” he admitted, “But what I just really want to do is enjoy every time that I'm going to walk into the court, feeling the energy from the people, feeling the competition. That's why I enjoyed so much today.”