Alcaraz unleashes and shines brightly on the night of New York

There are things that never change and pairs that never break. The one between Carlos Alcaraz and the night in New York seems destined to last as long as the Murcian competes: it doesn't matter the absence of four and a half months, it doesn't matter the injuries that get in the way, the Murcian always finds a way to ignite the crowd at Arthur Ashe when the sun goes down, mixing showmanship with quality to deliver a performance of great value. Today, in the second round of this US Open, the victim was a brave Jaime Faria, who started confidently and without fear of the stage... but ended up crushed by a freight train with Murcian origins (4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2).

The Murcian started relatively tentative, measuring distances, calculating how much he could force or not with a serve still in development. If there was one thing his opponent had today, it was boldness, that youthful instinct that knows no fear. It’s the same rebellious spirit that took him to win a set against Novak Djokovic at Rod Laver and to defeat Ben Shelton in Cincinnati: sheltered by serves that fell like bombs, Faria’s ability to find short points led him to strike first and make the world fear for a brief moment that a new night of surprises was on the horizon.

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The reaction from Alcaraz caused delirium in New York: this is how he came back in his second-round match at the US Open

In fact, the Portuguese had a couple of break points in the first game of the second set that he could not capitalize on. Who knows if this was the turning point of the match: while it is true that Carlitos remained very calm throughout the duel, showing no visible signs of frustration beyond a small moment of desperation with his serve, the wave of confidence was comfortably surfed by the Portuguese.

Carlos Alcaraz has the lob working tonight! pic.twitter.com/3xMsueXRMT

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2026

That game unleashed Carlos's reaction... and what happened was the show of a genius we had missed. There are many things to highlight in the Murcian's repertoire: the forehand made the difference like in old times, without any limitation, with whips from every imaginable position (the backhand, both parallel and cross, was once again a weapon of mass destruction)... and all thanks, of course, to an explosiveness and intensity that makes us question whether Alcaraz has truly been off the courts for that long.

Jaime decided to conserve energy in the face of such a level increase, conceding the end of the second set and focusing on the next. His best version returned in the third, this time with directed returns at his feet... but his main support network, the serve, never found the aim and precision of the first set, making it impossible for the Portuguese to find the cushion of short points he needed. Instead, what awaited him were trench wars from the back of the court where he needed to invent magical shots to succeed, a game plan that was impossible to maintain beyond the first hour and a half of tennis at this level.

Trading 🏌️ for 🏹 pic.twitter.com/bKWh0y5edl

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2026

With no fuel left in his legs (he was also coming off a grueling five-set match against Brooksby in his debut), Jaime let go and turned the fourth set into a mere formality. Alcaraz did not let up, however, as he continued to find the necessary combinations to raise his total of winners with his forehand to 21 (a sign that his best weapon is starting to fire). There is an underlying feeling from this match that fills Carlos's fans with optimism: who can survive such a version of the Murcian for more than two hours? No title contender is in splendid shape, and if it has taken the defending champion barely a couple of matches to ignite his engines like this... everyone else better get ready.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Alcaraz se desata e ilumina con fuerza la noche de Nueva York