ATP Tour

Alcaraz reacts to Djokovic defeat: 'It's a big surprise'

Carlos Alcaraz admitted Novak Djokovic’s shock first-round defeat at the US Open came as a surprise, but insisted he was not looking beyond his own next match after the result opened up his half of the draw.

Djokovic’s five-set loss to Mariano Navone on Sunday night means Alcaraz will no longer have to navigate a potential semi-final against the 24-time Grand Slam champion in his title defence. It was Djokovic’s first opening-round defeat at a major since the 2006 Australian Open, adding another extraordinary twist to a US Open draw already complicated by Alcaraz’s own four-month absence.

“I saw the fifth set,” Alcaraz said after winning his first-round match against Roman Safiullin on Monday. “Obviously it was the first time that Novak lost in the first round here in this tournament, so it's a big surprise. Someone like Novak going out in the first round, it's surprising.

“But every Grand Slam is really difficult to get through every round, every player. It's really tough. You have to earn the win [from] the first ball until the last one. He was in my part of the draw, but it was in the semi’s. For me, the semi’s are too far away, so I just try to go round by round.”

Despite staying up until nearly midnight on Sunday to watch Djokovic’s defeat, Alcaraz had his own comeback to focus on the following day. The 23-year-old Spaniard was making his first singles appearance since April after being sidelined by a right wrist injury, but returned in convincing fashion with a straight-sets victory over Safiullin to improve to 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Alcaraz struck 28 winners during the victory and, crucially, said afterwards that he was “pain free”. He also opened up about the nerves that accompanied his return to competitive singles action after 139 days away.

“It was a difficult day for me,” Alcaraz said when asked about the feelings ahead of his first singles match in 139 days. “But at the same time, a really beautiful one. Starting the day I was really nervous, thinking ‘I'm going to make it, I'm going to compete again’. I had more nerves than usual, but just happy, because my goal here is to compete, to enjoy, and let's see how my body's going to react after the matches.”

Alcaraz is now 23-3 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, and will next face Portugal’s rising star Jaime Faria in the second round.