Carlos Alcaraz will be back on the court at the U.S. Open when he faces Jaime Faria in round two on Wednesday. Daniel Merida, Alcaraz’s in-form fellow Spaniard, will try to upset No. 23 seed Andrey Rublev.
Jaime Faria vs. (2) Carlos Alcaraz
With a win under his belt, is Alcaraz off and running to a third U.S. Open title? There is obviously a long way to go before he can start thinking about such a possibility, but early returns are encouraging. Playing singles for the first time in 139 days after finally recovering from a wrist injury, Alcaraz delivered an encouraging performance in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Roman Safiullin on Monday afternoon.
Up next for the 23-year-old Spaniard on Wednesday is Faria, whom he has never faced. The world No. 72 from Portugal advanced to the Roland Garros third round as a qualifier (lost to Frances Tiafoe in five sets), to the Wimbledon second round as qualifier, and to the Cincinnati fourth round as a qualifier (upset Ben Shelton along the way). Success continued with a five-set defeat of Jenson Brooksby on Sunday. A confident Faria is a dangerous opponent — then again, so was Safiullin. This match will likely be more difficult for Alcaraz, but it’s tough to bet against him based on how he looked in his comeback match.
Pick: Alcaraz in 4
Daniel Merida vs. (23) Andrey Rublev
Rublev was one point away from being out of the tournament in round one. From the brink of defeat, the 24th-ranked Russian recovered from a two-set deficit and saved a match point at 5-6, 30-40 in the fifth to overcome Otto Virtanen 6-7(5), 6-7(0), 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(10-5) on Monday afternoon. To say it was a much-needed result for Rublev would be an understatement, because his hard-court summer had previous featured just one win across two Masters 1000 appearances in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Next on the schedule for the 28-year-old on Wednesday is a first-ever showdown against Merida, who is in outstanding form. The 21-year-old Spaniard won his maiden ATP title in Umag a couple of months ago and then heated up on hard courts with a quarterfinal run in Montreal and a third-round showing in Cincinnati. Merida opened in New York on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 rout of Marton Fucsovics. The world No. 39 is playing better tennis and enjoyed the much easier first-round match, so he really should have the edge over Rublev in this one.
Pick: Merida in 5