Tennis Prediction Roman Safiullin vs Carlos Alcaraz: US Open

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• Right wrist tenosynovitis, last match in Barcelona in April, missed Roland-Garros, missed the grass court season, missed Wimbledon, withdrew from Cincinnati on August 4th where he was the defending champion. Carlos Alcaraz has been out of competition for 4 and a half months.

• His training matches this week: a set lost against Daniel Mérida. A 6-1 2-3 defeat against Arthur Fils. And a serve speed significantly below his standards on Tuesday evening in mixed doubles.

• On the other side, this is not an easy draw. Roman Safiullin has already beaten Alcaraz. Bercy, October 2023, 6-3 6-4, in two straight sets.

• Alcaraz was world number 2 and had not lost a first round match in 9 tournaments. Safiullin came through qualifying and broke his serve 4 times.

• And Safiullin is anything but a player in decline. This summer at Wimbledon, he beat Joao Fonseca 6-3 6-3 6-3, then took a set off Novak Djokovic in the round of 16.

• Caution however, the recent form of the Russian player is 'disappointing', eliminated in the first round in Winston-Salem last week, but I would be very surprised to see Carlos capable of playing his best tennis.

• The Spaniard will have to rediscover his bearings and his feel on the court, he is likely to experience some dips in form and Safiullin has the profile to push him to 4 or 5 sets.