US Open 2026: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz roars into third round with win over Jaime Faria

World No 3 Carlos Alcaraz Garfia edged past Portugal's Jaime Faria to qualify for the third round of the US Open 2026 at Flushing Meadows in New York on Thursday. The Spaniard beat the Portuguese with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 scoreline in a match that lasted two hours and 40 minutes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The US Open is Alcaraz's first tournament in four months, having been sidelined due to a wrist injury. He played the Australian Open this year, but missed the French Open and Wimbledon due to the injury. Alcaraz said he is considering taking a few breaks in the future to manage his workload and injuries.

"Obviously, I don't want to have this break because of an injury," the 23-year-old said during his on-court interview after his second-round match.

"But in the future I'm going to take some breaks, some long breaks. Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it's impossible to play them all."

He added, “I think they adding more important tournaments... you know, in a way they are making us play. You can say no.”

Carlos Alcaraz recovers after dropping first set

Alcaraz showed some signs of rust in his opening set against Faria and identified a missed break-point opportunity as a key moment. Converting that chance would have put him 4-2 ahead, but Faria fought back to level at 3-3 before breaking Alcaraz in the following game to move 4-3 ahead.

"Tough match for me. Obviously, the first set I was feeling great, I had a break point, I missed it," Alcaraz said.

“After that, I was in a rush. I didn't take time, I wasn't patient and that obviously cost me the break.”

Faria was unable to build on his impressive start as his serve began to falter in the second set. At the same time, Alcaraz increased the intensity of his game and found greater pace and penetration on his groundstrokes.

The Spaniard was forced to save two break points in the opening game before holding serve, but he quickly established control. Alcaraz broke Faria three times to race through the second set and level the match.

That momentum continued into the third set, with Alcaraz breaking Faria early to establish a 2-0 lead. Faria responded immediately by breaking back to make it 2-1, but Alcaraz restored his advantage with another break in the next game, moving 3-1 ahead.

Both players held serve for the remainder of the set, allowing Alcaraz to take a 2-1 lead.

Alcaraz then strengthened his grip on the contest in the fourth set, securing another break to move 5-1 ahead. He held his nerve to serve out the match and complete the victory.

Spaniard raises concerns about hectic schedule

Alcaraz said he was not the only player getting injured frequently because of a hectic schedule.

"So it's impossible, and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don't do anything about it, we are going to see even more in the future. For me, taking this break because of an injury, it wasn't that good, but you know, what I'm going to say is I'm going to take some breaks and missing some tournaments in the future, for sure," he said.