US Open 2026 Day Two Recap

The second day of the 2026 US Open was a bit more conventional than the first, but there was still plenty going on.

Carlos Alcaraz made his return to singles after four months out with a wrist injury. He looked far better than I expected, easing past Roman Safiullin in straight sets without any obvious physical issues. The outfit, on the other hand, was less convincing.

The biggest result came from Stefanos Tsitsipas, who somehow dug himself out of a set and a break down to beat Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils.

I had pretty much written Stef off before the tournament, so fair play to him for immediately making that look stupid.

Elsewhere, Frances Tiafoe survived Martin Damm in five, Ben Shelton recovered from a dreadful opening set, and Andrey Rublev escaped from two sets down against lucky loser Otto Virtanen.

There was also a final Grand Slam appearance for Stan Wawrinka, who bowed out to Matteo Berrettini in straight sets after two competitive tiebreak sets on Grandstand.

Here’s a look at all the Day 2 results and the matches that stood out.

Day Two US Open 2026 Round of 128 Results

Key Match Recap

Carlos Alcaraz def. Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

Carlos Alcaraz made a very tidy return to singles action after four months out with a wrist injury, beating Roman Safiullin in straight sets on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

I thought Safiullin might get a set, and while there was understandably a bit of rust early on as Alcaraz didn’t appear to be going full throttle on either the serve or forehand, he gradually loosened up and started producing some of his trademark shotmaking.

Safiullin had opportunities, particularly on return, but Alcaraz saved five of the six break points he faced and was considerably better when the important points arrived.

Given he’d not played a singles match since April, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in just over two hours is a perfect start, and the only real problem he had was readjusting his shirt to cover his nipples. Not a great effort from Nike on that one.

Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Arthur Fils 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-4

Probably the performance of the day came from Stefanos Tsitsipas, who produced something resembling his old level to knock out Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils.

I completely wrote Stef off in my US Open draw post, basically saying he’d struggle to beat anyone, but he walks away dispatching the Cincinnati champion.

Fils came into New York on a six-match winning streak and had beaten Tsitsipas in all five of their previous meetings, so when he won the opening set and moved 5-2 ahead in the second, this looked like it was going exactly as expected.

Instead, Tsitsipas somehow turned it around. Fils failed to serve out the second set at 5-3, Tsitsipas dominated the resulting tiebreak, and from there the momentum completely flipped.

The Greek raced through the third 6-1 and then found the decisive break in the fourth, finishing with 50 winners, including 14 aces, and this was easily one of his better Grand Slam performances for some time.

Frances Tiafoe def. Martin Damm 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Frances Tiafoe narrowly avoided joining the growing list of seeds heading home after surviving Martin Damm in five sets.

Damm played extremely aggressively and caused Tiafoe all sorts of problems with his serve, firing 28 aces and 72 winners as he moved two sets to one ahead.

Tiafoe didn’t really find a spectacular new level to turn the match around. Instead, he just cleaned things up and made Damm work significantly harder for points.

That proved enough. Tiafoe made only eight unforced errors across the final two sets, protected his serve and found the single break he needed in the decider before 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 started terribly before turning into a fairly routine four-set victory over Tallon Griekspoor.

Shelton was all over the place in the opener, dropping serve three times and spraying forehands several feet outside the lines as Griekspoor took it 6-1 in just 28 minutes.

However, once Shelton started finding the court with his forehand, he broke early in the second and handed Griekspoor the same 6-1 scoreline he’d just received.

The third was the crucial set. Neither player gave much away on serve, but Shelton looked far more confident once it reached a tiebreak and took it 7-3 before running away with the fourth.

A slightly bizarre scoreline, but after the first set Shelton looked increasingly comfortable and will face Hubert Hurkacz next.

Andrey Rublev def. Otto Virtanen 6-7(5), 6-7(0), 6-0, 6-2, 7-6(10)

Andrey Rublev produced one of the escapes of the tournament so far, recovering from two sets down to beat lucky loser Otto Virtanen in a fifth-set tiebreak.

Rublev was on my upset watch as he was initially scheduled to play Cilic; however, Virtanen is no pushover, and after he pinched two tight opening sets, including a second-set breaker that he won 7-0, Rublev looked in serious danger of another early Grand Slam exit.

Rublev won the third set 6-0 and the fourth 6-2, completely changing the complexion of the match, but Virtanen deserves credit for somehow resetting and making the fifth competitive again.

It eventually came down to a deciding match tiebreak, where Rublev squeezed through 12-10.

Matteo Berrettini def. Stan Wawrinka 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 6-0

Stan Wawrinka’s final Grand Slam match ended with a straight-sets defeat to Matteo Berrettini, although the scoreline doesn’t really tell the story of the first two sets.

Wawrinka competed well and had the Grandstand crowd firmly behind him, but Berrettini was just a little better in both tiebreaks, so it was pretty much like their encounter at Wimbledon.

Once the Italian went two sets ahead, the 41-year-old understandably had very little left, and Berrettini raced through the third 6-0.

One of the best one-handed backhands we’ve seen, three Grand Slam titles during the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era and a player who, at his peak, could genuinely blow anyone off the court. Stan was an awesome watch.

Alexei Popyrin def. Grigor Dimitrov 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Grigor DDimitrov’slatest comeback ended in the first round as Alexei Popyrin recovered from losing the opening set to win in four.

Dimitrov started well enough, taking the first 6-3, but Popyrin gradually took over and won the next three without needing a tiebreak.

Given how little tennis Dimitrov has played recently and the type of tennis he’s produced when he has, it’s probably not a huge surprise. I think he should play some smaller events to build confidence. Could he win a weaker-fielded 250? Or even a Challenger? Not sure.

Highlights

US Open 2026 Day 3 Round of 128 Matches

— Grandstand, 11:00 AM