Carlos Alcaraz Battles Back To Beat Jaime Faria, Advances To US Open Third Round

• Second seed Carlos Alcaraz defeated Portugal's Jaime Faria in two hours and 40 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium

• After dropping the opening set, the Spaniard seized complete control by reeling off eight consecutive games

• Alcaraz struck 43 winners and showed no lingering discomfort from the right wrist injury that had sidelined him since mid-April

Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a slow start to beat Jaime Faria 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 and reach the US Open third round on Wednesday. The second seed, who is No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings, needed two hours and 40 minutes to get past the Portuguese player in New York.

The win mattered for more than survival. Alcaraz was playing this fortnight for the first time since suffering a right wrist injury in mid-April and has shown no sign of discomfort through his opening two matches.

Faria pushed him early before Alcaraz found his range, took control in the second set and closed out the match with the authority expected of one of the tournament favourites. He also produced perhaps his best set of the campaign so far in that second frame.

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Slow Start, Fast Finish

Faria struck first.

Ranked World No. 72, the hard-hitting Portuguese broke serve at 3-3 in the first set. He seized the edge after Alcaraz misfired on a serve-plus-one forehand, an attacking shot that is normally automatic for the Spaniard.

Alcaraz explained the lapse in his on-court interview after the match. “The first set, I was feeling great, had a break point and a pretty easy forehand for me that I missed. I was in a rush. I didn’t take time. I wasn’t patient," Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. "That cost me the break. Against someone like Jaime, he’s serving like 140 [mph], every serve is really difficult.

"After that, I just tried to be focused and stay calm and think that good things are going to happen again.”

That reset changed the match. After losing the opening set, Alcaraz settled down and stopped giving Faria the openings he enjoyed early on.

Second Set Surge

The turnaround came quickly.

The Spaniard responded immediately. Alcaraz erased a break point on his opening serve of the second set before sweeping eight straight games to seize full control from Faria.

Alcaraz grabbed his first break of the match with a forehand pass. He celebrated with a fist pump as the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd roared.

That 33-minute blitz shifted the entire contest. As Faria faded, Alcaraz found his rhythm and showed no lingering rust from a four-month layoff. The seven-time Grand Slam winner hit 43 winners and won 70 per cent of second-serve points against Faria’s 31 per cent, sealing victory in two hours and 40 minutes.

Title Chase Ahead

The bigger prize remains in view.

Alcaraz is trying to become the first player to defend the US Open title since Roger Federer won five in a row from 2004 to 2008. He is already a two-time champion in New York, having won the title there in 2022 and again in 2025.

Milestones keep mounting for the Spaniard. At 22, he became the youngest male player ever to complete the Career Grand Slam earlier this year. The result in New York also gave him 26 career main-draw match wins at Flushing Meadows, his highest total across all four majors.

He is now 9-0 at the majors in 2026. Alcaraz next faces China’s Wu Yibing, who beat James Duckworth 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. Alcaraz leads Wu 1-0 in their Lexus ATP Head-to-Head series and their only previous meeting came in Shanghai in 2024.