Carlos Alcaraz walked onto Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night at the US Open carrying more than just his racquet bag. For all the fond memories Flushing Meadows has given him, lifting the trophy as a 19-year-old in 2022, backing it up with a semifinal run the following year, there was still one wound unhealed.
Last summer, fresh off back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon triumphs, he was stunned in the second round by unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. Even he himself admitted that loss lingered more vividly than his victories.
“If I’m honest, I thought about last year when I stepped on the court,” he said. “Some bad thoughts. I was nervous about it, like thinking, ‘OK, I don’t want to do the same thing as I did last year, losing in the second round.’”
This time, there was no repeat. The world No. 2 brushed aside those anxieties with a commanding performance, dismantling Italy’s Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 in just an hour and 36 minutes. From the opening ball, Alcaraz dictated, winning the first five games and never loosening his grip.
Where van de Zandschulp had found cracks a year ago, Bellucci met only steel.
A More Focused Alcaraz
Alcaraz looked sharper, steadier, and more mature. Determined to avoid the “ups and downs” that once cost him matches, he delivered clarity and control. His footwork was relentless, his baseline strikes precise, and he finished with 32 winners against just 23 unforced errors.
“I set up some goals at the beginning of the match, and I’m trying to follow them from the first ball until the last ball,” he explained. “That helped me stay positive and aggressive all the time.”
That discipline, as much as the scoreline, is what will be critical for his success in the fortnight ahead, as a player who once thrived on improvisation is now looking to embrace structure.
Eyes on the Road Ahead
Next up is another Italian, 32nd seed Luciano Darderi, whose clay-court pedigree poses less of a threat on hard courts. With Daniil Medvedev and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina already out, the draw until the quarters looks manageable for the world No. 2. Add in his ATP-leading 56 wins and six titles this season, and the Spaniard has both the form and the path to mount another deep run in New York.
The real test will be sustaining the level he showed on Wednesday, rather than making drastic changes. The ghosts of 2024 may have been quieted, but bigger challenges in the form of Ben Shelton, Novak Djokovic, and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner still await.
Alcaraz, though, sounded ready. “It’s just about the goals you set for yourself,” he said with a smile after his second-round win. “And following them every time.”
For this match, he did. And the rest of the field has been served notice: Alcaraz isn’t looking back, only forward.
Main Photo Credit: Syndication: The Enquirer
