‘I felt great’: Carlos Alcaraz makes impressive return to US Open after 139 days out with wrist injury | tennis news

NEW YORK CITY: For two hours and 21 minutes at Arthur Ashe, Carlos Alcaraz’s game answered the big question that had accompanied his long-awaited return to tennis.The 23-year-old Spaniard, who played his first match in 139 days following a wrist injury in mid-April, faced Russian Roman Safiullin at the US Open. He hit the ball, hit impossible shots and fired shots with his shoelaces, turning the defense into delicate winners on his way to a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory.Alcaraz opened his final service game with a volley winner, stroked inches off the ground and then turned to the crowd, asking for some love, hand to ear. The spectators roared and Alcaraz’s smile made the sun shine.The second seed stressed that he was playing without pain.“I felt great. I don’t know what it looked like from the outside, but from the inside, I felt like I was hitting the ball normally. I was playing pretty normal, playing my style, and the wrist felt great. I’m still going to take care of it, obviously, I’m very happy that it finally doesn’t hurt,” he told international media.The defending champion arrived on court in a dark brown, almost espresso ensemble, the warmest alternative to black in the fashion world. Alcaraz removed her overshirt to reveal an oversized ombré tank top, paired with matching brown shorts with thick white trim. A narrow hair tie kept her unruly mop in place. A white compression sleeve covered the caution tape on his wrist.In a match of small margins, where Alcaraz, it seemed, was doing enough, he had 28 winners, 20 of them from the right. He faced six break points and Safiullin converted only one. The 23-year-old converted four of the seven break points he achieved, a difference that proved decisive.The second favorite started with his returns, but was more controlled with his serve. Alcaraz, who likes to push speeds up to 130 mph, reached a top speed of 128 in the first-round match. The average speed on his first and second serve was 113 and 97 respectively.“The serve is the shot I had the most difficulty with,” he said, adding: “There are some players who like to return serve from 130 miles and when you serve a little slower, they have a little difficulty. So most of that speed (generated) is due to him (opponent). “It was kind of a tactic.”“I always have problems with the service, but I will definitely come back,” he said.For the seven-time Grand Slam winner, who faces 23-year-old Portuguese Jaime Faria in the second round on Tuesday, the biggest change was perhaps mental.“It was a difficult day for me, but at the same time, a really beautiful day,” he said. “I was really nervous. Very, very nervous, but also happy, because for me my goal here is to compete, enjoy and see how my body reacts after the games.”Alcaraz explained: “I had forgotten what a match day feels like. I was warming up, and I don’t really remember what I used to do in the warm-up. So I had that feeling again. That’s why I was very nervous, because I forgot about the competition.”“I don’t know how far I’m going to go in the tournament,” he admitted, “but what I really want to do is enjoy every time I step on the court, feel the energy of the people, feel the competition. That’s why I enjoyed so much today.”