Carlos Alcaraz Begins US Open Title Defense with Wrist Concerns

Carlos Alcaraz walks back into New York as the defending champion, but this time the story starts with a wrist, not a racket.

The Spaniard opens his US Open title defence against Russia’s Roman Safiullin in what will be the first real test of a right wrist that has kept him out of singles competition for more than four months. No surgery, just stubborn inflammation and a long, frustrating wait.

Last year he owned the men’s draw at Flushing Meadows. This year, he arrives short of matches and heavy on intrigue. The 23-year-old has not played a competitive singles point since the spring, missing both Roland Garros and Wimbledon as the injury refused to settle. His only glimpse of the spotlight came earlier this week in the mixed doubles, partnering Serena Williams in a feel-good cameo that was more about rhythm than result.

Now the warm-up is over. Safiullin is the first hurdle, and a demanding one for a player who needs to trust his body again under real pressure.

Alcaraz back, but Zverev on top line

The rankings have been kinder to Alcaraz than his wrist. Despite his lay-off, he arrives as the second seed, tucked just behind top seed Alexander Zverev. The German, fresh from finally cracking the Grand Slam code at Roland Garros in June, opens against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego as he hunts a second major title and a statement summer hard-court swing.

Zverev sits at the top of the draw only because Jannik Sinner, the original No.1 seed, pulled out with a knee injury. The Italian’s absence shifts the landscape and nudges Zverev into the spotlight as the man officially to beat.

But in New York, the defending champion always carries a different kind of weight. For Alcaraz, that weight now includes a simple question: can the wrist hold up to two weeks of best-of-five?

Djokovic eyes 25 – and a brutal second round

On the other side of the men’s story stands Novak Djokovic, starting yet another march towards history. His campaign for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title begins against Argentina’s Mariano Navone.

On paper, that’s manageable. What comes next is anything but.

Waiting in the second round will be either Matteo Berrettini or Stan Wawrinka, a draw that feels like a time warp back to some of Djokovic’s biggest stages. Berrettini is the man he beat in the 2021 Wimbledon final; Wawrinka is a three-time major champion and one of the few players to have repeatedly hurt Djokovic on the biggest courts.

For Wawrinka, this US Open is the last dance. The Swiss, granted a late wildcard, has already announced this will be the final major of his career. If he can get past Berrettini, the prospect of one more crack at Djokovic in New York would give the early rounds an edge they rarely enjoy.

Djokovic, 39 now, has seen every kind of draw. This one, though, asks him to be sharp from almost the first ball.

Fery leads a thin British charge

For Britain, the focus falls on a new face in an old arena. Arthur Fery, the surprise Wimbledon semi-finalist, steps back into Grand Slam life with a tough opener against Italian 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti.

Fery’s run at the All England Club in July changed everything. It catapulted the 24-year-old into the world’s top 40 for the first time and guaranteed him a debut in New York. He came close to being seeded here; missing out has cost him dearly in the draw.

Musetti, a quarter-finalist in New York in 2025, is no soft landing. Fery will have to handle both the jump in expectation and the reality of facing a seeded shot-maker early in the first week.

He also finds himself leading a notably thin British contingent. With Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu both sidelined, Fery, ranked 37 in the world, suddenly becomes the main British storyline in the men’s and women’s draws combined.

Draper, a semi-finalist here last year, withdrew last week because of a long-term arm injury. Raducanu, the 2021 champion, is still out with the shin fracture that also kept her from playing Wimbledon. Their absence leaves a gap that Fery, ready or not, now has to help fill.

Cameron Norrie, Britain’s men’s No.1, did at least cling on to a seeding. The 29th seed starts against France’s Luca van Assche, a match that offers a chance to settle into the tournament quietly while the spotlight falls elsewhere.

Jan Choinski, who broke into the top 100 for the first time in June at the age of 30, is the only other British man in the main draw. It is a modest group by recent standards, and New York will show quickly whether it can punch above its weight.

Sabalenka starts, Rybakina chases, Venus returns

The women’s draw opens with its own defending champion under pressure from behind. Aryna Sabalenka begins against Colombia’s Camila Osorio, armed with the status of a long-standing No.1 and the knowledge that the gap is closing.

Sabalenka has sat at the top of the WTA rankings for 97 weeks, an impressive reign in a volatile era. Yet Elena Rybakina, the reigning Australian Open champion, is close enough to feel like a constant presence in the rear-view mirror. Rybakina’s campaign starts against American teenage wildcard Thea Frodin, a match that should offer a gentle introduction to the New York hard courts but will still carry ranking implications.

Then there is Venus Williams. At 46, with two US Open titles behind her and every part of her career already written into tennis history, she has been handed a wildcard despite losing all 10 of her matches this season.

The numbers are unforgiving. The name is not.

Venus opens against Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, in a first-round clash that bridges two very different eras of the women’s game. For Kenin, it is a chance to reassert herself on a big stage. For Venus, it is another attempt to squeeze one more moment out of a career built on them.

As the lights go up in Queens, the narratives are already in motion: Alcaraz testing his wrist and his reign, Djokovic chasing 25 with danger lurking early, Zverev trying to prove Roland Garros was the start of something bigger, Sabalenka and Rybakina locked in a rankings duel, Venus walking back into the noise one more time.

New York has its defending champions. Now it waits to see who still has the game – and the body – to defend.