New Delhi, Sept. 1 -- Carlos Alcaraz needed only three sets and a little over two hours of tennis to remind New York why this place still feels like home. On his first singles match in 139 days, the defending US Open champion beat Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Arthur Ashe Stadium and walked off looking like he had never been away.

The result was simple. The story behind it was not.

Carlos Alcaraz had not played a singles match since mid-April, when a right-wrist problem later confirmed as tenosynovitis ended his clay swing. He pulled out of Barcelona after beating Otto Virtanen, then missed the French Open, Wimbledon, Montreal and Cincinnati. His last Grand Slam singles title before this week was the Australian Open in January, when ...