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Alcaraz returns to Grand Slam action with straight-sets win over Safiullin at US Open

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 distinct · 1 masthead · 1 article Version 1 Coverage Sep 1, 2026 Published 2h ago

Alcaraz returns to Grand Slam action with straight-sets win over Safiullin at US Open

Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return to Grand Slam tennis, beating Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the US Open on Monday. The Spaniard, who had not played a competitive match since April due to a wrist injury, said afterwards how much he had missed being back on court.

"I missed the crowd, I missed the energy, I missed competition, I missed everything," Alcaraz said. "I'm really happy to compete again."

Alcaraz, a two-time winner in New York, had withdrawn from the Cincinnati warmup event and made his return directly at the Grand Slam, where matches are best of five sets. He said he played pain-free on Monday, adding: "I don't know how it looked from the outside ... but my feeling was I was hitting normal. I was playing normal, playing my style, and the arm, the wrist, everything, you know, felt great."

The match was even at 3-3 in the first set when Alcaraz broke with a big forehand, the signature weapon he used to take control of many of the longer rallies. Safiullin, a powerful baseliner with a prior win over Alcaraz, kept close in all three sets but never looked likely to threaten the Spaniard.

Safiullin broke early in the second set, but Alcaraz, moving well and breaking up rallies with surprise drop shots and occasional serve and volley plays, quickly broke back and broke again. He broke early in the third set and never looked back.

Reflecting on the match, Alcaraz said it was a "difficult day" but "at the same time, a really beautiful one." He added: "It's kind of I forgot how match day looks like. You know, I was warming up, and I don't remember actually what I used to do, you know, in the warm-up."

Alcaraz's return to action came after Novak Djokovic, the fourth seed and a four-time US Open champion, lost late Sunday night in a marathon, five-set upset to Argentine Mariano Navone in his earliest Grand Slam exit in 20 years. Alcaraz described Djokovic's defeat as "a big surprise." The two were seeded to potentially meet in the semifinals.

Alcaraz had played only one competitive match since April, winning his opening match in Barcelona before withdrawing from the tournament due to the wrist injury, which also kept him from the French Open and Wimbledon.

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Hindustan Times

Framing: Highlights Alcaraz overcoming nerves to advance at the US Open. — celebratory and sympathetic

as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Alcaraz said: 'I missed the crowd, I missed the energy, I missed competition, I missed everything.'
Alcaraz won his opening match at the US Open against Safiullin.
Safiullin had a prior win over Alcaraz.
Alcaraz broke Safiullin's serve at 3-3 in the first set with a big forehand.
Safiullin broke early in the second set, but Alcaraz broke back.
Alcaraz broke early in the third set and never looked back.
Alcaraz described the experience as a 'difficult day' but 'a really beautiful one.'
Alcaraz said: 'It's kind of I forgot how match day looks like.'
Alcaraz withdrew from the Barcelona tournament in April due to a wrist injury.
The wrist injury also kept him from the French Open and Wimbledon.
Alcaraz played 'pain-free' on Monday.
Alcaraz said: 'I was playing normal, playing my style, and the arm, the wrist, everything felt great.'
Alcaraz is a two-time US Open winner.
Alcaraz pulled out of the Cincinnati warmup event.
Novak Djokovic, seeded fourth, lost to Mariano Navone in a five-set upset.
Alcaraz described Djokovic's defeat as 'a big surprise.'

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimCarlos Alcaraz won his opening match at the US Open against Roman Safiullin, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ESPN as of Aug 31, 2026, 11:46 PM UTC, Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC
ClaimAlcaraz was ranked No. 23 and had been away for four and a half months with a wrist injury.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ESPN as of Aug 31, 2026, 11:46 PM UTC
ClaimAlcaraz said: 'I missed the crowd, I missed the energy, I missed competition, I missed everything.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC
ClaimAlcaraz beat Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round of the US Open.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC, ESPN as of Aug 31, 2026, 11:46 PM UTC
ClaimSafiullin had a prior win over Alcaraz.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC
ClaimAlcaraz said: 'It was a difficult day for me, to be honest, but a really beautiful one.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via ESPN as of Aug 31, 2026, 11:46 PM UTC, Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC
ClaimAlcaraz played 'pain-free' on Monday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC
ClaimAlcaraz withdrew from the Cincinnati warmup event.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC
ClaimAlcaraz is a two-time US Open winner.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC
ClaimAlcaraz has played only one competitive match since April due to his wrist injury.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Hindustan Times as of Sep 1, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 distinct · 1 masthead · 1 article consulted: Hindustan Times 10 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-01