Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka open their US Open title defenses with victories, Fils eliminated in the first round
Defending singles champions Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka successfully began their campaigns at the 2026 US Open in New York. Alcaraz defeated Roman Safiullin in three sets in his first official match in more than four months, while Sabalenka overcame Camila Osorio and extended her winning streak in the opening rounds of Grand Slam tournaments. A major upset also occurred in the men's draw on the same day: unseeded Stefanos Tsitsipas eliminated tenth seed Arthur Fils, the recent Masters 1000 champion in Cincinnati. After Novak Djokovic was sensationally defeated by Mariano Navone a day earlier, the start of the tournament at Flushing Meadows has already produced two results that significantly alter the landscape of the men's draw.
Alcaraz returned after 139 days and immediately cleared the first hurdle
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round of the US Open, the tournament's official website reported. For the second seed, this was not merely a routine victory at the start of his title defense but also his first professional singles match in 139 days. The Spaniard had been out of competition for more than four months because of a right wrist injury, and his return in New York was one of the biggest question marks ahead of the final Grand Slam tournament of the season. Before the tournament, the ATP stated that Alcaraz was injured in April in Barcelona and that during his recovery he missed most of the spring and summer schedule, including the grass-court season and Cincinnati. Under those circumstances, a straight-sets victory carried additional significance for the defending champion.
The official US Open report states that Alcaraz did not play without errors, which was to be expected after such a long break. He finished the match with 27 errors and five double faults, while Safiullin managed to break his serve once. Nevertheless, the Spaniard played the key points more securely and found enough room in each of the three sets for the decisive break. Particularly important was the fact that he reported no new physical problems after the match. After the victory, Alcaraz said that his body felt good and that he was happy finally to be back in competition, which at this stage of the tournament may be just as important as the result itself.
With his victory over Safiullin, Alcaraz extended his impressive streak in the opening rounds of Grand Slams. According to US Open data, since his first appearance in a Grand Slam main draw in 2021, he has still never lost a first-round match and now has a 21-0 record. In New York, he has also turned every one of his appearances in the main draw so far into at least a passage through the opening hurdle. His next opponent will be Portugal's Jaime Faria, who reached a career-high ATP ranking of No. 70 during August. According to the tournament's official preview, Alcaraz and Faria have never met before.
Title defense carries additional uncertainty because of injury
Alcaraz arrived in New York as a seven-time Grand Slam champion and the world No. 2, but without the competitive rhythm that his main rivals generally build during the North American hard-court swing. On August 20, the ATP confirmed that the US Open would be his first tournament since April. Ahead of the start of the competition, the 23-year-old admitted that during rehabilitation he had long been unsure whether he would return in time for Cincinnati, only for the US Open, or whether he would have to miss the entire American part of the season. At the same time, he emphasized that he had not changed his stroke technique or his fundamental style of play because of the injury, and that the goal was instead to return to the court without restrictions.
New York has special significance for Alcaraz. He won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2022, when he also became the youngest world No. 1 in ATP rankings history. He won his second New York title in 2025, defeating Jannik Sinner in the final in four sets, which at the time also returned him to the top of the world rankings. Official US Open data state that the 2025 title was his sixth Grand Slam trophy, while at the beginning of 2026 he completed the career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open and increased his total number of major titles to seven. This year's title defense is therefore simultaneously an attempt to continue his dominance at the biggest tournaments and a test of how quickly he can return to the highest level after the longest break of his career so far.
Sabalenka begins pursuit of a possible third consecutive title
Aryna Sabalenka also made it through the first round without dropping a set. The top seed and world No. 1 defeated Colombia's Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. According to official US Open statistics, Sabalenka finished the match with 32 winners and won 13 of 16 points at the net. Osorio managed to raise her level in the second set and create two break points while leading 3-2, but Sabalenka did not allow her to convert them into an advantage. She then regained control and closed out the match in two sets.
Sabalenka is defending two consecutive titles in New York. She won the first in 2024 and successfully defended the trophy a year later by defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6(3) in the final. According to the WTA, she is now attempting to become the first player to win three consecutive US Open titles since Serena Williams, who achieved such a streak from 2012 to 2014. Sabalenka has already won four Grand Slam tournaments and has held the No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings continuously since October 2024. That position makes her the main reference point in the women's draw, but at the same time increases the pressure because she is defending a large number of ranking points and a historic streak in New York.
Her arrival at the tournament, however, was not without questions regarding her form. The official US Open website states that she has not won another trophy since her title in Miami in March and that from the period after that tournament until the first round in New York she had an 18-7 record. She was stopped in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, in the fourth round at Wimbledon, and did not get past the round of 16 at the WTA 1000 tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati. The victory over Osorio is therefore important as a stable start to the tournament at which she has been most successful in recent seasons. In the second round, she will face qualifier Polina Iatcenko.
Another statistic illustrates just how reliable Sabalenka has been at the beginning of the biggest tournaments in recent years. According to the US Open, the victory over Osorio gave her 24 consecutive wins in first-round matches at Grand Slams. Her last defeat at that stage came at the 2020 Australian Open. That streak does not guarantee a deep run, but it confirms that she very rarely allows an upset at the very beginning of a tournament, even when her form in the weeks before a Grand Slam has not been ideal.
Tsitsipas comes from behind against Fils and eliminates the tenth seed
The biggest upset of the second day of the men's tournament occurred at Louis Armstrong Stadium, where Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Arthur Fils 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4. The result resonated particularly strongly because of the form in which the 22-year-old Frenchman arrived in New York. Just eight days earlier, Fils had won the Cincinnati Open, his first Masters 1000 title, by defeating Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. The ATP states that this made him the first French Masters 1000 champion since 2014 and lifted him to a career-high ranking of world No. 11. At the US Open, he was seeded tenth and was among the group of players expected to produce a serious result before the tournament.
Tsitsipas, by contrast, arrived in New York unseeded and outside the world's top 50, following a period in which his Grand Slam results had been far removed from his best years. The official US Open website states that the former world No. 3 had failed to advance beyond the second round in his previous nine Grand Slam appearances. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old Greek showed against Fils the level of play that characterized the period when he regularly reached the latter stages of the biggest tournaments and advanced to the Roland Garros final in 2021 and the Australian Open final in 2023.
The comeback began in the second set. Fils led 5-2 and, at 5-3, served for a two-sets-to-love lead. Tsitsipas then broke back, forced a tie-break and won it 7-3. After that, the Frenchman was unable to regain control: Tsitsipas took the third set 6-1, then made the decisive break for 3-2 in the fourth and preserved the advantage until the end. He finished the match with his 14th ace, and the victory was his first against Fils in six meetings. According to the US Open report, the contest lasted almost three hours.
For Tsitsipas, the victory continues signs of recovery that appeared during the summer. After his long-standing partnership with his father Apostolos, he began working with Patrick Mouratoglou, a coach known for his long-term work with Serena Williams. In July, he won the tournament in Gstaad, which according to the US Open was his first ATP Tour title in 16 months. In New York, he now has an opportunity to string together several Grand Slam victories for the first time in quite some time. In the second round he faces qualifier Lloyd Harris, and advancing would see him equal his best result at the US Open.
Djokovic's defeat a day earlier further opens up the men's draw
Fils' elimination came just one day after an even greater upset. Novak Djokovic, the fourth seed and four-time US Open champion, lost in the first round to Argentina's Mariano Navone 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. The official US Open website states that it was Djokovic's first first-round defeat at a Grand Slam tournament since 2006 and his first such defeat in 20 appearances in New York. It ended a streak of 78 consecutive Grand Slam first-round victories.
The match lasted four hours and 36 minutes, the longest first-round match Djokovic has played at one of the four major tournaments. After coming from behind to take a 2-1 lead in sets, the 39-year-old Serbian visibly declined physically in the closing stages. In his post-match statement, he spoke about problems with vomiting and cramps that have troubled him throughout the season and said that back and shoulder pain also emerged toward the end. Navone took advantage, convincingly won the final two sets and recorded the biggest victory of his career.
The defeats of Djokovic and Fils cannot be viewed in the same way. Djokovic arrived in New York with enormous experience and 24 Grand Slam titles, but with clear doubts about his physical condition. Fils, on the other hand, arrived as one of the most in-form players on Tour after the biggest title of his career. What the two results have in common is that, within the first two days, they removed two highly seeded players from the men's draw. That creates more room for players outside the narrowest circle of favorites, but it also further emphasizes the value of Alcaraz's secure start after a months-long break.
The opening days have already produced clear tournament storylines
Alongside the victories of Alcaraz, Sabalenka and Tsitsipas, Monday produced several other notable results. Amanda Anisimova, the 2025 US Open finalist, defeated Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-3 on her 25th birthday. Matteo Berrettini beat Stan Wawrinka 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 6-0, and the tournament's official website stated that the defeat marked the end of Wawrinka's Grand Slam career. Andrey Rublev produced one of the biggest comebacks of the day: after losing the first two sets against lucky loser Otto Virtanen, he prevailed 6-7(5), 6-7(0), 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(5).
For the defending champions, however, the most important point is that they passed their first serious test without any drama on the scoreboard. Sabalenka continued her long streak of secure starts at Grand Slam tournaments, while Alcaraz got exactly what he needed most after four months away: three competitive sets, a victory and confirmation that his wrist, for now, is holding up well enough for the biggest stage. The next rounds will show how quickly he can return to full playing intensity, especially as the quality of the opponents and the duration of the matches increase.
The 2026 US Open has therefore already developed two parallel stories right from the start. In the women's tournament, Sabalenka is attempting a rare feat by winning the title in New York for a third consecutive time. In the men's tournament, Alcaraz is defending the trophy after the longest break of his career, while the early departures of Djokovic and Fils have shown just how quickly the expected order can change. In such a draw, every secure victory by a favorite acquires added importance, but the opening results simultaneously warn that reputation, seeding and a fresh title from a warm-up tournament offer no guarantees at Flushing Meadows.
Sources:
- US Open – results and match review from August 31, 2026, including the victories of Alcaraz and Sabalenka and the defeat of Arthur Fils (link)
- US Open – report on Alcaraz's return, victory against Safiullin and next opponent (link)
- ATP Tour – context of Alcaraz's right wrist injury, four-month absence and return in New York (link)
- ATP Tour – confirmation of Alcaraz's return at the US Open and overview of his 2025 title and 2026 season (link)
- US Open – report on Sabalenka's victory against Camila Osorio, match statistics and winning streak in Grand Slam opening rounds (link)
- US Open – context of Sabalenka's status as world No. 1 and the battle for the top of the WTA rankings ahead of the tournament (link)
- US Open – historical overview of Sabalenka's attempt to win a third consecutive title and Serena Williams' streak from 2012 to 2014 (link)
- US Open – result of the 2025 women's final between Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova (link)
- US Open – detailed report on Tsitsipas's comeback against Arthur Fils (link)
- ATP Tour – information on Fils winning the Cincinnati Open and his first Masters 1000 title (link)
- US Open – report on Novak Djokovic's defeat by Mariano Navone and his physical problems during the match (link)