Carlos Alcaraz Is Avoiding Rollercoaster Dips At The U.S. Open

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 27: Carlos Alcaraz of Spain returns against Mattia Bellucci of Italy during their Men’s Singles Second Round match on Day Four of the 2025 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 27, 2025 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

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Carlos Alcaraz completed the Italian job on Wednesday evening in double-quick time, although it wasn’t as short as his debut partnership with Emma Raducanu. Alcaraz took just over 90 minutes to overcome Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 to breeze through to the third round of the U.S. Open.

That is nine minutes less than the famous film’s running time. “I’ve got to say sorry to the people. I’ve got to do my job,” said the second seed when asked about the all too brief entertainment package on an expectant Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Bellucci tried to play the swashbuckling underdog, all hairband and high-energy handsomeness, but Alcaraz’s laser-guided shots knocked him sideways. Bellucci is derived from the word “bello”, which means beautiful. It didn’t feel that way for the world no. 63.

Since his breakthrough title at the U.S. Open in 2022, Alcaraz hasn’t had it easy at Flushing Meadows. He was outfoxed, outplayed and frustrated by the calm version of Daniil Medvedev in 2023, and lost in straight sets to Botic van De Zandschulp in the second round last year. It was one of those subdued and confusing defeats that sideswipe Alcaraz occasionally. Perhaps all his emotions had spilt out after the agonizing Olympic final against Novak Djokovic.

The French Open champion admitted worrying about that setback to the Dutchman. “If I’m honest, I thought about last year when I stepped on the court. I was nervous about it, like thinking, okay, I don’t want to do the same thing as I did last year, losing in the second round.”

There was never any danger of an exit as Alcaraz showed a focus that rose above any joviality about a second-hand haircut. The more hirsute Bellucci was reduced to stealing a solitary game in the first hour from the purple streak of lightning running the show across the other side of the net.

The howls of delight when pulling back to deuce showed that the Lombardy lungs were straining to be competitive in a lost cause. In the second-set bagel, the 24-year-old won just 27 percent of his first serves. Alcaraz won all of his. Similarly, the Murcia man didn’t lose any points on his delivery in the first set against Reilly Opelka on Monday.

Alcaraz was 5-0 up on Jannik Sinner at the Cincinnati Open final in just under 25 minutes, and he made a fast start here. The Spaniard crunched some decent Bellucci groundstrokes with turbo boost borrowed from Sinner’s Wimbledon final range. But Alcaraz also has the beauty of the artist, and left his opponent standing with sublime pick-up lobs into different corners of the court. He has a mind map that works faster than a CPU.

When he won the match, Alcaraz brought out a golf celebration as a nod to Rory McIlroy, who had dropped in on his practice session on Monday. Both are five-time major champions. There’s also something of the McIlroy highwire act with Alcaraz, especially in the breathless blitz of brilliance that rises to the top and then drops off from the dizzy heights of the rollercoaster.

McIlroy finally ended up winning the Masters, having gone through the birdie and bogey maelstrom, rediscovering the magic just in time. Alcaraz did exactly that in the tiebreak against Sinner at Roland Garros. He seems to ride the crushing and crashing waves of elite sport with more of a smile. Being 22 has its perks as the Northern Irishman will know.

Alcaraz admitted that he’s trying to stay in the zone from the first to the last ball with a view to “Not having ups and downs.” Alcaraz only made nine unforced errors in his first-round win over Opelka. There’s no doubt what coach Juan Carlos Ferrero has been working on since his charge’s uneven performance in the Wimbledon final.

In the third round, Alcaraz will face another Italian opponent, 32^nd seed Luciano Darderi, whose four ATP 250 titles have all come on clay. Medvedev has been removed from a possible fourth-round confrontation, so the path is lighting up for a player who has won 41 of his last 43 matches.

The biggest Italian job would be for Carlos Alcaraz to meet up with friendly foe Sinner on September 8. It will take a lot more to blow the world No. 1’s doors off.