Round 2: Carlos Alcaraz vs. Mattia Bellucci
Arthur Ashe Stadium – Night Session – First Match
- Alcaraz seeks to regain his position at the top of the ATP rankings, and a better result than rival Jannik Sinner in New York will ensure the Spaniard is the world No. 1 when the US Open is over. He currently leads the tour with with 55 match wins and six titles this season, and is looking to improve on last year's result at Flushing Meadows, when was upset in the second round by Botic van De Zandschulp.
- Bellucci, currently the world No. 65, defeated Shang Juncheng by retirement in the first round to advance to Round 2 for the second consecutive year. He made his US Open main draw debut last year, coming through qualifying without dropping a set and defeating former champion Stan Wawrinka in the first round before falling to Christopher O'Connell.
- Alcaraz has a perfect record (19-0) in the first round of Grand Slams. Prior to last year's early exist in Ashe, the last time the 2022 champion failed to reach the third round of a major was in 2021, when he suffered second-round losses at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. This season, the Roland Garros victor has a 18-2 record at the Slams, having lost in the Melbourne quarterfinals and the Wimbledon final at the hand of Sinner.
- The Italian is 1-3 against Top 10 players, having defeated then-No. 7 Daniil Medvedev at Rotterdam and beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to earn a berth in the semifinals, where he was bested by Alex de Minaur. Bellucci also made a run to the quarterfinals at Marrakech. He reached the third round at a major for the first time at Wimbledon, where he lost to hometown hope Cameron Norrie.
- This is the pair's first meeting at the tour-level, but they faced off at an ITF event in Manacor, Spain in 2020. Alcaraz won the match, 6-2, 6-1 on the clay courts in his home country.
