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Carlos Alcaraz beat Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on his return from a four-month wrist injury, his first singles match since April. Stan Wawrinka’s final Grand Slam appearance ended in a 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 6-0 defeat to Matteo Berrettini. Stefanos Tsitsipas beat 10th seed Arthur Fils in four sets, and Andrey Rublev recovered from two sets down against Otto Virtanen. Fils and Matteo Arnaldi were the seeds to fall.
New York, United States: Carlos Alcaraz had not played a singles match since April. He lost twelve games.
The defending champion missed the French Open and Wimbledon with a wrist problem and arrived at Flushing Meadows without a warm-up tournament, his only competitive tennis in months having come in the mixed doubles alongside Serena Williams during Fan Week. None of it showed against Safiullin on Arthur Ashe.
Four Months, Three Sets
Alcaraz said afterwards that the arm and the wrist had felt fine and that he had been hitting normally, and admitted to more nerves than usual beforehand. His stated aim was not to project how deep a run he might make but to see how the body answered a competitive match.
It answered well enough for a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over a player who had beaten him in Paris three years ago.
Wawrinka’s Last Match
The evening’s other story was an ending. Stan Wawrinka, 41 and retiring later this season, played the last Grand Slam match of his career and took Matteo Berrettini to two tiebreaks before the third set got away from him entirely.
The 2016 champion here and a three-time major winner, he was given a long farewell by the New York crowd. He said he would miss it, and would miss it badly.
Tsitsipas Takes the Cincinnati Champion
Stefanos Tsitsipas is unseeded at a major for the first time in his career, which made his draw against the 10th seed a poor one for Arthur Fils.
Fils arrived as the Cincinnati champion and won the opening set. Tsitsipas took the second on a tiebreak and then conceded five games across the last two, closing it out 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4. The Greek has been as high as No. 3 and has played Novak Djokovic in two major finals.
Rublev, Two Sets and a 7-0 Tiebreak Down
Andrey Rublev’s afternoon started as badly as it is possible to start. Otto Virtanen took the first two sets on tiebreaks, the second of them without conceding a point.
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Rublev then won the third 6-0, the fourth 6-2, and the deciding tiebreak 7-5. Five sets, and for two of them he had barely been in the match.
Shelton and Auger-Aliassime the Hard Way
Ben Shelton lost the opening set 6-1 to Tallon Griekspoor under the lights and won the next three, taking the third on a tiebreak. Felix Auger-Aliassime, two wins short of 300 at tour level, had two match points serving at 5-4 in the fourth against Rinky Hijikata, was broken, and then broke straight back to take it 7-5. He plays Karen Khachanov, a 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 winner over Roman Andres Burruchaga.
Frances Tiafoe had the longest night, going two sets to one down against the young American Martin Damm Jr. before winning the last two. James Duckworth’s 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(8) win over 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi was the day’s only other seeded casualty.
Brandon Nakashima conceded three games in beating Sebastian Baez. Learner Tien, Jakub Mensik, Luciano Darderi, Valentin Vacherot, Alejandro Tabilo and Alexander Blockx all came through.
Sunday’s Leftovers
Matches suspended overnight were finished on Monday. Adrian Mannarino came from two sets down to beat Thiago Agustin Tirante, and Sebastian Gorzny needed a deciding tiebreak, won 11-9, to see off Raphael Collignon in five. Rei Sakamoto also went the distance, against Aleksandar Vukic.
First-round results — US Open, men’s singles, day two
[2] C. Alcaraz d. R. Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
[3] F. Auger-Aliassime d. R. Hijikata 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
[8] B. Shelton d. T. Griekspoor 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2
[11] F. Tiafoe d. M. Damm Jr. 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
[14] L. Tien d. N. Borges 6-4, 6-1, 6-2
[16] B. Nakashima d. S. Baez 6-2, 6-1, 6-0
[17] J. Mensik d. S. Mochizuki 6-1, 6-4, 7-5
[21] L. Darderi d. H. Wendelken 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
[22] V. Vacherot d. A. Kovacevic 6-2, 6-3, 7-5
[23] A. Rublev d. O. Virtanen 6-7(5), 6-7(0), 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(5)
[25] A. Tabilo d. Y. Hanfmann 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
[28] A. Blockx d. M. T. Barrios Vera 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
S. Tsitsipas d. [10] A. Fils 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4
J. Duckworth d. [30] M. Arnaldi 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(8)
M. Berrettini d. S. Wawrinka 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 6-0
K. Khachanov d. R. A. Burruchaga 6-3, 6-0, 6-1
A. Mannarino d. T. A. Tirante 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
S. Gorzny d. R. Collignon 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(9)
R. Sakamoto d. A. Vukic 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
A. Michelsen d. F. Cina 6-4, 6-1, 6-0
J. Rodionov d. G. Mpetshi Perricard 7-6(2), 6-0, 7-6(4)
