The second day of the 2026 US Open was a bit extra typical than the primary, however there was nonetheless loads happening.
Carlos Alcaraz made his return to singles after 4 months out with a wrist damage. He regarded much better than I anticipated, easing previous Roman Safiullin in straight units with none apparent bodily points. The outfit, then again, was much less convincing.
The largest end result got here from Stefanos Tsitsipas, who in some way dug himself out of a set and a break all the way down to beat Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils.
I had just about written Stef off earlier than the match, so truthful play to him for instantly making that look silly.
Elsewhere, Frances Tiafoe survived Martin Damm in 5, Ben Shelton recovered from a dreadful opening set, and Andrey Rublev escaped from two units down in opposition to fortunate loser Otto Virtanen.
There was additionally a remaining Grand Slam look for Stan Wawrinka, who bowed out to Matteo Berrettini in straight units after two aggressive tiebreak units on Grandstand.
Right here’s a have a look at all of the Day 2 outcomes and the matches that stood out.
Day Two US Open 2026 Spherical of 128 Outcomes
Winner
Loser
Rating
Quentin Halys
Facundo DÃaz Acosta
6-4, 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-1
Alexei Popyrin
Grigor Dimitrov
3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Alejandro Tabilo [25]
Yannick Hanfmann
6-3, 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-3
Luciano Darderi [21]
Harry Wendelken
6-2, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
Dalibor Svrcina
Valentin Royer
6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-2
Felix Auger-Aliassime [3]
Rinky Hijikata
7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Karen Khachanov
Roman Andres Burruchaga
6-3, 6-0, 6-1
Sebastian Gorzny
Raphael Collignon
3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(9)
Valentin Vacherot [22]
Aleksandar Kovacevic
6-2, 6-3, 7-5
Rei Sakamoto
Aleksandar Vukic
6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Brandon Nakashima [16]
Sebastian Baez
6-2, 6-1, 6-0
Alex Michelsen
Federico Cina
6-4, 6-1, 6-0
Andrey Rublev [23]
Otto Virtanen
6-7(5), 6-7(0), 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(10)
Jacob Fearnley
Martin Landaluce
4-6, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Matteo Berrettini
Stan Wawrinka
7-6(4), 7-6(3), 6-0
Ben Shelton [8]
Tallon Griekspoor
1-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2
Hubert Hurkacz
Damir Dzumhur
6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
Learner Tien [14]
Nuno Borges
6-4, 6-1, 6-2
Jakub Mensik [17]
Shintaro Mochizuki
6-1, 6-4, 7-5
Jurij Rodionov
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
7-6(2), 6-0, 7-6(4)
Alexander Blockx [28]
Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera
6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Marco Trungelliti
Juncheng Shang
0-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Frances Tiafoe [11]
Martin Damm
6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Adrian Mannarino
Thiago Agustin Tirante
4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
James Duckworth
Matteo Arnaldi [30]
5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(8)
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Arthur Fils [10]
4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4
Carlos Alcaraz [2]
Roman Safiullin
6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Key Match Recap
Carlos Alcaraz def. Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Carlos Alcaraz made a really tidy return to singles motion after 4 months out with a wrist damage, beating Roman Safiullin in straight units on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
I assumed Safiullin may get a set, and whereas there was understandably a little bit of rust early on as Alcaraz didn’t look like going full throttle on both the serve or forehand, he step by step loosened up and began producing a few of his trademark shotmaking.
Safiullin had alternatives, notably on return, however Alcaraz saved 5 of the six break factors he confronted and was significantly higher when the details arrived.
Given he’d not performed a singles match since April, profitable 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in simply over two hours is an ideal begin, and the one actual downside he had was readjusting his shirt to cowl his nipples. Not a terrific effort from Nike on that one.
Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Arthur Fils 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4
Most likely the efficiency of the day got here from Stefanos Tsitsipas, who produced one thing resembling his previous stage to knock out Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils.
I fully wrote Stef off in my US Open draw publish, mainly saying he’d wrestle to beat anybody, however he walks away dispatching the Cincinnati champion.
Fils got here into New York on a six-match profitable streak and had crushed Tsitsipas in all 5 of their earlier conferences, so when he received the opening set and moved 5-2 forward within the second, this regarded prefer it was going precisely as anticipated.
As an alternative, Tsitsipas in some way turned it round. Fils didn’t serve out the second set at 5-3, Tsitsipas dominated the ensuing tiebreak, and from there the momentum fully flipped.
The Greek raced by the third 6-1 after which discovered the decisive break within the fourth, ending with 50 winners, together with 14 aces, and this was simply considered one of his higher Grand Slam performances for a while.
Frances Tiafoe def. Martin Damm 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Frances Tiafoe narrowly prevented becoming a member of the rising listing of seeds heading dwelling after surviving Martin Damm in 5 units.
Damm performed extraordinarily aggressively and triggered Tiafoe all kinds of issues along with his serve, firing 28 aces and 72 winners as he moved two units to at least one forward.
Tiafoe didn’t actually discover a spectacular new stage to show the match round. As an alternative, he simply cleaned issues up and made Damm work considerably more durable for factors.
That proved sufficient. Tiafoe made solely eight unforced errors throughout the ultimate two units, protected his serve and located the one break he wanted within the decider earlier than closing it out at 12:50 a.m.
Ben Shelton def. Tallon Griekspoor 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2
Ben SShelton’sUS Open began terribly earlier than turning into a reasonably routine four-set victory over Tallon Griekspoor.
Shelton was in every single place within the opener, dropping serve 3 times and spraying forehands a number of ft exterior the traces as Griekspoor took it 6-1 in simply 28 minutes.
Nonetheless, as soon as Shelton began discovering the court docket along with his forehand, he broke early within the second and handed Griekspoor the identical 6-1 scoreline he’d simply obtained.
The third was the essential set. Neither participant gave a lot away on serve, however Shelton regarded way more assured as soon as it reached a tiebreak and took it 7-3 earlier than operating away with the fourth.
A barely weird scoreline, however after the primary set Shelton regarded more and more snug and can face Hubert Hurkacz subsequent.
Andrey Rublev def. Otto Virtanen 6-7(5), 6-7(0), 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(10)
Andrey Rublev produced one of many escapes of the match up to now, recovering from two units all the way down to beat fortunate loser Otto Virtanen in a fifth-set tiebreak.
Rublev was on my upset watch as he was initially scheduled to play Cilic; nevertheless, Virtanen isn’t any pushover, and after he pinched two tight opening units, together with a second-set breaker that he received 7-0, Rublev regarded in critical hazard of one other early Grand Slam exit.
Rublev received the third set 6-0 and the fourth 6-2, fully altering the complexion of the match, however Virtanen deserves credit score for in some way resetting and making the fifth aggressive once more.
It will definitely got here all the way down to a deciding match tiebreak, the place Rublev squeezed by 12-10.
Matteo Berrettini def. Stan Wawrinka 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 6-0
Stan Wawrinka’s remaining Grand Slam match ended with a straight-sets defeat to Matteo Berrettini, though the scoreline doesn’t actually inform the story of the primary two units.
Wawrinka competed properly and had the Grandstand crowd firmly behind him, however Berrettini was just a bit higher in each tiebreaks, so it was just about like their encounter at Wimbledon.
As soon as the Italian went two units forward, the 41-year-old understandably had little or no left, and Berrettini raced by the third 6-0.
Among the finest one-handed backhands we’ve seen, three Grand Slam titles through the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic period and a participant who, at his peak, might genuinely blow anybody off the court docket. Stan was an superior watch.
Alexei Popyrin def. Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Grigor DDimitrov’slatest comeback ended within the first spherical as Alexei Popyrin recovered from dropping the opening set to win in 4.
Dimitrov began properly sufficient, taking the primary 6-3, however Popyrin step by step took over and received the subsequent three while not having a tiebreak.
Given how little tennis Dimitrov has performed lately and the kind of tennis he’s produced when he has, it’s most likely not an enormous shock. I believe he ought to play some smaller occasions to construct confidence. May he win a weaker-fielded 250? Or perhaps a Challenger? Unsure.
Highlights
US Open 2026 Day 3 Spherical of 128 Matches
— Grandstand, 11:00 AM
Rafael Jodar [12] v Thanasi Kokkinakis — Stadium 17, 11:00 AM
Fabian Marozsan v Michael Zheng — Court docket 11, 11:00 AM
Zachary Svajda v Daniel Altmaier — Court docket 12, 11:00 AM
Juan Manuel Cerundolo v Arthur Gea [LL] — Court docket 6, 11:00 AM
Zizou Bergs [31] v Carlos Taberner — Court docket 12, 11:00 AM
Jesper de Jong v Francesco Passaro [Q] — Court docket 10, 11:00 AM
Jan Choinski v Botic van de Zandschulp — Court docket 5, 11:00 AM
Andrea Guerrieri [Q] v Alex de Minaur [6] — Grandstand, 11:00 AM
Alex Molcan v Benjamin Bonzi — Court docket 13, 11:00 AM
Marcos Giron v Ignacio Buse [32] — Stadium 17, 11:00 AM
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo v Gael Monfils [WC] — Louis Armstrong, 11:00 AM
Taylor Fritz [9] v Darwin Blanch [WC] — Arthur Ashe, 11:30 AM
Mattia Bellucci v Zsombor Piros [Q] — Court docket 10, 11:00 AM
Camilo Ugo Carabelli v Jan-Lennard Struff — Court docket 13, 11:00 AM
Filip Misolic v Francisco Cerundolo [24] — Court docket 5, 11:00 AM
Nishesh Basavareddy [Q] v Tristan Schoolkate [Q] — Court docket 11, 11:00 AM
Francisco Comesana v Flavio Cobolli [5] — Louis Armstrong, 11:00 AM
