Carlos Alcaraz dropped just the third set of his career against a younger opponent Wednesday night on Arthur Ashe.
The defending U.S. Open champion, however, recovered in convincing fashion to take a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win over Portugal’s Jaime Faria and advance to the third round in Flushing for the fifth time in his six years participating in the tournament.
While both Alcaraz and Faria are 23, the latter is exactly three months younger.
The Spaniard is known for having a perfect record when facing players born after him on the ATP tour, which improved to 14-0 Wednesday night.
Alcaraz will now square off against China’s Wu Yibing on Friday.
“Well, I wanted it to be quick, to be honest,” Alcaraz said when asked if he preferred the extra work or would rather the match finish quickly. “But, you know, at the end, I realized that playing four sets was really good for me. Test everything physically, to test my body.
“How I feel, and tomorrow how I’m going to feel after this match after four sets. I’m just happy that I was able to play good tennis during the fourth set.”
The win was Alcaraz’s 16th consecutive in Grand Slam tournaments and his ninth straight at the U.S. Open.
Alcaraz unleashed a bow-and-arrow celebration as the fans rose to their feet with applause.
And after a rough start, it was warranted. Because for the first time since returning from his 4 ½-month hiatus with a wrist injury, Alcaraz looked a little rusty in the first set.
“I know once I step on the court, I just got to go for it every time,” said Alcaraz, who finished the match with 43 winners. “I got to feel normal. I have to, you know, hit like I was hitting before the injury, and let’s see what happens, you know, after that. You know, I’m just feeling great. There is no reason to be afraid and not hitting normal.”
Struggling mightily on his first serve during the first set, Alcaraz converted just over 50 percent.
Not only were his groundstrokes all over the place, but Alcaraz wasn’t even effectively hitting his trademark drop shot.
But over the next two sets, Alcaraz lost just three total games, including a bagel in the second.
“I had a break point [in the first set], I didn’t make it. And after that, I just wanted to play short points, which was a mistake for me,” he said. “I just needed to play [with] passion, to play long rallies, three, four, five shots, and then go for it. But I kind of built the point from the first shots. I didn’t make it. So I would say that’s why he got the break and got the first set.
“After that, I realized what I had to do. I needed to be more [passionate], to build the points a little bit more since the beginning. Yeah, I got an early break, which helped me a lot to play with more calm, and then I’m thinking more [clearly] about everything I would say that was the turning point.”
