Just a couple of months after Wimbledon, and only a few days after he was eliminated from the Mixed Doubles segment of the US Open with partner Emma Raducanu, it’s no surprise that Carlos Alcaraz is currently working at avenging himself with a hopeful US Open title. During the intense match-up against America’s Reilly Opelka (who recently made headlines thanks to Daniil Medvedev, but that’s another story for another time)

Carlos Alcaraz has been working hard on his returns, even falling at times to save a point. It looked pretty bad when it happened, but fans seem to think Alcaraz has nothing to worry about. Alcaraz was laser focused, but against the ace master, Alcaraz’s returns sent him helterskelter across the court. In one such instance, Alcaraz resorted to gymnastics to save a point that landed him on his glutes.

Concern immediately piqued among fans. But Alcaraz immediately got back to business. After all, he wouldn’t look to make another early exit from the US Open similar to last year’s. Opelka’s 6’11” frame gave him the advantage of dictating the serves and, in extension, the game itself. From being unable to find a rhythm and familiar footing that is classic Alcaraz, he resorted to focusing on using every chance to return and keep the rally going from the baseline. This adaptive strategy and, of course, the new military cut, worked like a charm for the Spaniard.

But the tennis nation was naturally worried. The last thing any fan of the sport wants to see is a strong contender losing out due to an injury.“He’s fine,” one fan wrote under the photo on X that was captioned, “Gosh, ugly fall from Carlos.” While another fan seems a little more concerned, “OUCH.” It was an ouch moment indeed when he landed on his tush on the hard court. At the time, fans wondered if adrenaline would be enough to propel Alcaraz through the match, there was another question that followed: What is the aftermath going to be like?

Well, we have the answer to the first question, the adrenaline definitely pulled Alcaraz through! The one-time US Open Champion, pulled through this first round with ease, in three sets with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory.

Does Carlos Alcaraz need a comeback after Wimbledon 2025 and his loss to Jannik Sinner?

Carlos Alcaraz didn’t seem to be in his best form in this year’s Wimbledon final, and Jannik Sinner was able to knock him out in 4 sets, however, in the aftermath of that, Alcaraz’s ‘party boy’ reputation seemed to precede his other big wins from the year.

Lest not forget, Alcaraz has won the Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati Open this year, plus he managed to defeat Sinner just weeks prior at Roland Garros. The Cincinnati win, however, was a bit surprising, given Sinner had to step out of the tournament on account of illness, therefore, Alcaraz was sort of handed that win. So, Sinner has more to prove than Alcaraz with this title, and given that everything goes well for both stars till the final, we may expect a real showdown between these two famed rivals at the finals.

Jannik Sinner plays his first round Men’s Singles match today at the Arthur Ashe stadium, against Vit Kopriva, and Alcaraz is riding the high of a successful first round win against Reilly Opelka, writing on his Instagram, under a series of photographs that highlight his new buzz-cut, “Happy to be back in NYC and to win my opener at the US Open!” The star certainly looks happy, and hopefully we’ll be able to see a long, tense match between Alcaraz and Sinner at the end of this tournament! This will certainly make up for the disappointments these players had in the doubles tournament!

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