Carlos Alcaraz drops 1st set, then surges into US Open Round 3 - ESPN

NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz was already in the final by the time he dropped a set last year in the US Open.

When it happened in his second match this year, Alcaraz tried to look at the positives. After missing four months with a right wrist injury, the extra work might help.

«I wanted to be quick, to be honest. I'm not going to lie,» Alcaraz said. «But at the end, I realized that just playing four sets, it was really good for me to test everything physically, to test my body, how I feel, and tomorrow how I'm going to feel after this match.»

The defending champion rebounded from a quick deficit by winning eight straight games and beat Jaime Faria 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday night.

The No. 2-seeded Alcaraz dropped his serve midway through the first set but soon was back to playing long stretches of flawless tennis.

«After that I just tried to be focused, tried to stay calm and I'm thinking that good things are going to happen again,» Alcaraz said.

He didn't drop a set last year until the final against Jannik Sinner, becoming the first man since Roger Federer in 2015 to go through his first six matches without doing so. He then beat Sinner in four sets for his second US Open title.

Alcaraz, 23, has had his serve broken three times in this tournament, including twice Wednesday night, after being broken three times in 101 service games en route to the 2025 title.

Alcaraz, who picked up his seventh major title at this year's Australian Open, is on a 16-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments, the longest of his career. He is 29-1 in his past 30 major matches. (He lost to Sinner in the 2025 Wimbledon final.)

But after missing the French Open and Wimbledon during his absence, even Alcaraz said he didn't know what to