By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz needed only a New York minute to hit his stride after a nearly five-month injury layoff, beating Russian Roman Safiullin 6-4 6-4 6-4 on Monday in the first round of the U.S. Open.
Alcaraz arrived at Flushing Meadows as one of the tournament's biggest question marks, having not played since April due to a wrist injury, but he had his best weapon working for him in his first singles match in 139 days as he sent over 20 forehand
winners.
He next plays Portugal's Jaime Faria in the second round.
"It's been a really tough five months for me," said Alcaraz. "I missed it - I missed the crowd, the energy, I missed competition, I missed everything."
Alcaraz got a brief U.S. Open warm-up in the mixed doubles with partner Serena Williams last week, and the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium was all too happy to see him return, with the twice champion greeted with deafening cheers as he took to the court.
Alcaraz whacked a forehand winner out of Safiullin's reach for the break in the seventh game and looked to be back to his usual self as the Russian was unable to tame Alcaraz's lethal serve on set point.
The Spaniard went down an early break in the second set but Safiullin gave up the momentum immediately as he sent a volley out on break point in the third game, never getting a handle on the match.
Alcaraz painted the line to go up another break in the seventh and was in total control in the third set, where he converted a break point with his powerful forehand.
"I was playing pretty normal, playing my style, and yeah, and the arm, the wrist, everything felt great," said Alcaraz.
"I'm going to still take care of it, obviously, these days and before the matches and everything, but, you know, I'm just really happy it's pain-free finally."
'DIFFICULT DAY' FOR ALCARAZ, DESPITE WIN
The youngest man to complete the career grand slam, 23-year-old Alcaraz has not been immune to injury scares in his still-young career, giving fans a fright last year with a brief knee concern en route to the title.
But this year's drama has risen above the level he has seen before, after the wrist injury in his dominant arm forced him to pull out of the Barcelona Open and scuttled a large chunk of his season.
He looked healthy enough - if, perhaps, somewhat uninspired - playing in last week's mixed doubles but hit another gear on Monday as he debuted a flowing hairstyle in contrast to last year's accidental buzz cut.
"It was a difficult day for me, to be honest, but at the same time, a really beautiful one. Starting the day really nervous," said Alcaraz, who hopes to become the first man to successfully defend the title since Roger Federer won his fifth in a row 18 years ago.
"I don't know how far I'm gonna go in the tournament. I didn't know if I was going to lose this one, if I'm going to make the second round, final. I don't know how far I'm going to go. But what I just really want to do is enjoy every time that I'm gonna walk into the court."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
