Carlos Alcaraz opens US Open title defense vs Roman Safiullin

Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, returns the ball during a mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

NEW YORK— Carlos Alcaraz will open the defense of his U.S. Open title against an opponent who made a strong run at Wimbledon while the Spaniard was sidelined with an injury.

Main draw play at the final Grand Slam tournament of the season begins Sunday.

READ: Carlos Alcaraz to return from wrist injury at US Open

Alcaraz is the No. 2 seed and will face Roman Safiullin. It will be Alcaraz’s first singles match since April, after the two-time U.S. Open champion was forced to miss the French Open and Wimbledon because of a right wrist injury.

The Spaniard returned to play with Serena Williams in the mixed doubles tournament and looked rusty. He may have to be sharper against Safiullin, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, upsetting Andrey Rublev and Joao Fonseca along the way before falling to 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic in four sets.

Safiullin also upset Alcaraz, ranked No. 2 at the time, in the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris in 2023. Alcaraz avenged that loss the following year at the Paris Olympics in their lone other meeting.

Alexander Zverev, the French Open champion who became the No. 1 seed in New York when Jannik Sinner pulled out with a knee injury, will open against Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

The potential men’s quarters: No. 1 Zverev vs. No. 6 Alex de Minaur, No. 2 Alcaraz vs. No. 8 Ben Shelton, No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. No. 5 Flavio Cobolli, and No. 4 Djokovic vs. No. 7 Daniil Medvedev.

No. 10 seed Arthur Fils, coming off the title in the Cincinnati Open, faces two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was once ranked No. 3, in the first round. Stan Wawrinka, the 2016 U.S. Open champion who received a wild card to play in his final Grand Slam tournament before retiring, faces Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, to open a second straight major tournament. Berrettini won in four sets — all tiebreakers — at the All England Club.

Rublev, the No. 23 seed, faces 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic. No. 13 Lorenzo Musetti, who reached the quarterfinals in New York last year, opens against Britain’s Arthur Fery, who lost to Zverev in the Wimbledon semifinals.