Carlos Alcaraz is finally back in singles action as he won his first match in four and a half months in the first round of the US Open.
Alcaraz straightforwardly defeated Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to return with a victory, and he looked in impressive condition considering his absence from the sport.
The Spaniard was rarely troubled by Safiullin and his return match could not really have gone any better considering he did not play a warm up before the Grand Slam.
Alex Corretja, who has been a long-time admirer of Alcaraz, was impressed by what he saw from the Spaniard, although he does have some reversations about the world No 3.
Speaking to Eurosport Spain, Corretja voiced his opinion on Alcaraz’s first round match against Safiullin in New York and suggested the potential roadblocks he will have throughout the tournament.
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The Spaniard said Alcaraz was ‘very solid’ against the Russian star and suggested he deserved praise for playing at such a high level despite missing four and a half months of action.
However, Corettja believes that Alcaraz’s biggest issues are mental rather than physical heading into his second round match against Jaime Faria.
“I saw him as I expected, but with the understandable doubts he himself mentioned. It’s a mental issue, because you start to doubt how you’re going to perform, whether you’ll have second thoughts or feel any discomfort again,” said Corretja.
“This is much more complicated than riding a bike… Stepping onto a track with 25,000 people watching you, after so many months of injury and hardly being able to train. We must urge caution so that this doesn’t overwhelm him,” continued the Spaniard.
Alcaraz is one of the favourites to win the US Open, despite his inactivity from the ATP Tour, and he’s already been boosted by the results of the first round.
The world No 3 was set to play Novak Djokovic in the semi finals, but his defeat to Mariano Navone in the first round has opened up his route to the final.
Arthur Fils and Cameron Norrie could have played Alcaraz in the quarter finals, but they have been defeated too. At this point, either Ben Shelton or Jiri Lehecka look like his most likely opponent in the last eight.
The highest-ranked player Alcaraz will have to play before the quarter finals of the US Open will be either Tommy Paul or Alexander Bublik, who could be his fourth round opponent.
Nevertheless, Alcaraz will be hopeful he can safely make his way through the competition in order to gain a semblance of match fitness before the latter stages of the Grand Slam.
