Carlos Alcaraz wins US Open 2026 first round in straight sets on wrist injury return

Carlos Alcaraz needed only three sets and a little over two hours of tennis to remind New York why this place still feels like home. On his first singles match in 139 days, the defending US Open champion beat Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Arthur Ashe Stadium and walked off looking like he had never been away.

The result was simple. The story behind it was not.

A long wait, then a clean start

Carlos Alcaraz had not played a singles match since mid-April, when a right-wrist problem later confirmed as tenosynovitis ended his clay swing. He pulled out of Barcelona after beating Otto Virtanen, then missed the French Open, Wimbledon, Montreal and Cincinnati. His last Grand Slam singles title before this week was the Australian Open in January, when he completed a career Slam.

Coming straight back into best-of-five tennis was always going to be a gamble. Alcaraz said as much before the tournament.

“I know coming to the US Open, best-of-five for [my first event in four months], it's really challenging. Probably, in terms of preparation, it is not the best time. But my team and I believe that I'm ready.”

“It wasn't an easy decision. I just did whatever it took to be ready.”

Safiullin was not a soft landing. The Russian, ranked around No. 99, had already beaten Alcaraz at the 2023 Paris Masters and reached the Wimbledon last 16 this summer. Their head-to-head sat at 1-1. On paper, this was a first-round trap.

How the match unfolded

Roman Safiullin served first. Carlos Alcaraz needed a few points to settle, including an early backhand into the net, but the pattern soon became clear. The Spaniard’s return depth forced errors. His drop shots and sliced volleys kept the Russian off balance. There was one messy service game from Alcaraz in the opening set. After that, the match stayed on a tight, repeating line: 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

What this win actually means

This was only round one. Alcaraz is still short of match fitness after four and a half months out. He used mixed doubles with Serena Williams last week as a first competitive test, winning a round and then losing in the quarter-finals. That outing helped. This one mattered more.

No man has successfully defended the US Open title since Roger Federer in 2008. Alcaraz is trying to do it without a single North American hard-court tune-up. That is the unusual part of this campaign, and it is still early.

For one afternoon in Flushing Meadows, though, the question was simpler: could he come back and look like himself? He could. The scoreline was 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The wrist held. New York got its champion back on the board.