{"id":2726,"date":"2026-09-01T17:30:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2026-09-01T17:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:30:25","slug":"carlos-alcaraz-faces-one-criticism-after-us-open-comeback-from-former-world-no-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2726","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Alcaraz faces one \u2018criticism\u2019 after US Open comeback from former world No 4\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is still a \u201cbig question mark\u201d over Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> despite his impressive US Open comeback, according to former British No 1 Greg Rusedski.<\/p>\n

In his first singles match in 139 days, Alcaraz earned a decisive 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Roman Safiullin in the first round at the 2026 US Open.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz, who is the reigning US Open<\/a> champion, is chasing an eighth Grand Slam title \u2014 and his second of 2026 after he won the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Some felt that Safiullin \u2014 a 2023 Wimbledon quarter-finalist who also made the fourth round at the grass-court major last month \u2014 represented a tricky opening assignment for Alcaraz after such a long spell on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old\u2019s decision to make his return from a right wrist injury at a Grand Slam surprised many analysts \u2014 including Rusedski.<\/p>\n

On the latest episode of his Off Court With Greg Rusedski<\/a> podcast, Rusedski praised Alcaraz\u2019s display, but highlighted his serve speed as a possible cause for concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was actually quite impressive from Alcaraz. No matches for 139 days, decides to start at a three out of five set tournament,\u201d said the 1997 US Open runner-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Safiullin didn\u2019t play great, but still Alcaraz found a way through. It was box office. Just incredible to see what he\u2019s done because most people need a few matches to get ready to get that confidence, that belief.<\/p>\n

More US Open News<\/h2>\n

Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s US Open comeback win sparks \u2018shocking\u2019 comment from Grand Slam finalist<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Brad Gilbert assesses Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s level after US Open first round victory<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe big question mark for me is: how does he bounce back the next day? How does the wrist feel? Because you have that adrenaline in your body.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if I was going to be critical on one thing, service speed was down, averaging 112 miles per hour. He\u2019s usually 120 range.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, he was obviously taking a little bit off the first serve. Forehand was huge from the ground strokes. He was hitting as hard as ever, which was a positive.
\nWe saw that huge forehand on break point to get the opening set break use of the drop shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, there are so many more positives, but the question mark, still, is round two. Is the wrist good enough? Will the speeds be there? Will he increase?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he does increase, this is a huge positive for our sport because we desperately wanted him back, and opening round, very good signs from the former world No 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcaraz explained in his press conference that his lower average first serve speed against Safiullin was tactical, but\u00a0Rusedski argued this must change if the Spaniard faces \u201cthe very best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst Safiullin, he only won 66% of points on first serve, and that number is usually 70-plus to 80%. And that\u2019s a key step,\u201d the former world No 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecond serve defence was incredible because it was above 60%. So, second serve is great. He\u2019s covering it well. But first serve, against the very best, you need to be there, because the best guys will step in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey won\u2019t play that far back. They\u2019ll rip into that serve if he\u2019s only rolling in at 112 and then you\u2019re starting off on the back foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, let\u2019s see what happens in the next round. If he increases the speed and it was tactical\u2026 if it was tactical, next round it should be averaging 120-plus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alcaraz will face world No 72 Jaime Faria in the second round at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz backed to reach US Open final \u2013 but is behind \u2018prime Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal\u2019 in one area<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Carlos Alcaraz faces one \u2018criticism\u2019 after US Open comeback from former world No 4\u00a0<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is still a \u201cbig question mark\u201d over Carlos Alcaraz despite his impressive US Open comeback, according to former British No 1 Greg Rusedski. In his first singles match in 139 days, Alcaraz earned a decisive 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Roman Safiullin in the first round at the 2026 US Open. Alcaraz, who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}