Alcaraz Returns From Four-Month Layoff to Defend US Open Title Against Safiullin

Carlos Alcaraz will begin his US Open defence against Roman Safiullin after the draw was made on 27 August, four months after a right wrist injury sidelined him from singles competition.

Alcaraz, the defending champion and second seed, has not played a singles match since the Barcelona Open in April. The wrist injury cost him the French Open and Wimbledon. He made his first competitive appearance since the setback in mixed doubles alongside Serena Williams on Tuesday, losing in the quarter-finals — a gentle re-introduction, not the real test. That comes when he steps out to play Safiullin, the world No 98, who has climbed over 100 ranking places in 2026 after his own return from injury The Guardian.

Safiullin is no straightforward first round. He beat Alcaraz indoors at the 2023 Paris Masters, which means the head-to-head, the record between two players, carries a blemish for the Spaniard before a ball is struck in New York.

The draw did Alcaraz few other favours. His quarter contains Ben Shelton, the eighth seed and Canadian Open champion, and Arthur Fils, the 10th seed who won the Cincinnati Open — the two biggest hard-court tune-up events before Flushing Meadows. Fils opens against Stefanos Tsitsipas, a first-round clash that could have been a quarter-final in a different draw. Novak Djokovic, the fourth seed, shares Alcaraz's half and begins against Mariano Navone, with Daniil Medvedev (seventh seed) the highest-ranked player in Djokovic's section.

Alexander Zverev, the French Open champion, is the top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time and faces Lorenzo Sonego in his opener. The world No 1, Jannik Sinner, withdrew from the tournament with a knee injury, opening up the draw further.

On the women's side, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka starts against Camila Osorio with her No 1 ranking on the line. Her half includes third seed Jessica Pegula — a potential semi-final opponent — along with sixth seed Linda Noskova, the Wimbledon champion, and seventh seed Karolina Muchova, the Wimbledon runner-up. Sabalenka could also face the two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova, seeded 27th, as early as the third round.

Elena Rybakina, the second seed, arrives with uncertain form after retiring from her Cincinnati quarter-final against Iga Swiatek with a leg injury. Venus Williams, meanwhile, was drawn against Sofia Kenin in the first round — a meeting of two former Grand Slam champions AP News.

For Alcaraz, the equation is simple and brutal: defend a title he won last summer, on the sport's most punishing hard courts, with four months of rust and a wrist that has already cost him two Slams. The draw gave him a name he has lost to before. It gave him in-form opponents deeper in the bracket. And it took away the one player — Sinner — who might have absorbed attention from the other half of the draw.

The US Open begins on Monday.