Alcaraz wins easily at the US Open to advance to 3rd round

NEW YORK: Carlos Alcaraz’s accidental buzz cut is moving on at the US Open thanks to an easy-as-can-be victory in the second round, a year after he lost at that stage in the Grand Slam tournament.

The No. 2-seeded Alcaraz — who shaved his head after his brother messed up his hair — needed a little more than 1 1/2 hours to beat 65th-ranked Mattia Bellucci of Italy 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Alcaraz never faced a break point and accumulated a 32-11 advantage in winners. All in all, a far cry from what happened in the second round at Flushing Meadows in 2024.

Alcaraz went into that one on a 15-match unbeaten run at major tournaments — thanks in large part to titles at the French Open and Wimbledon — but came out on the wrong end of a straight-set defeat against Botic van de Zandschulp.

There never was a chance of that sort of stunner against Bellucci.

“Yeah, I played great,” said Alcaraz, who earned the first of his five Grand Slam titles at the US Open in 2022. “Today wasn’t his day. I tried to make the most of his mistakes.”

He and No. 1 Jannik Sinner have combined to win the past seven major trophies.

Meanwhile, Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko got into a face-to-face argument on the Court 11 sideline right after Townsend won their second-round match 7-5, 6-1. Townsend, an American who is ranked No. 1 in doubles, said Ostapenko, a Latvian who won the 2017 French Open, told her she has “no class” and “no education.”

No. 5 seed Jack Draper, a semifinalist in 2024, withdrew because of a lingering injury to his left arm. Winners included defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, both of last year’s runners-up — Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz — along with Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, 2021 champion Emma Raducanu and Emma Navarro. No. 12 Casper Ruud, whose 0-3 record in Grand Slam finals includes a loss to Alcaraz at Flushing Meadows in 2022, was eliminated 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 by Raphael Collignon of Belgium. The 107th-ranked Collignon had never won a match at a major or played a five-setter until this tournament.