NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz was already in the final by the time he dropped a set last year in the U.S. Open.
When it happened in his second match this year, Alcaraz tried to look at the positives. After missing four months with a right wrist injury, the extra work might help.
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Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates winning a match against Jaime Faria, of Portugal, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, left, meets Jaime Faria, of Portugal, at the net after winning a match during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates winning a match against Jaime Faria, of Portugal, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates winning a match against Jaime Faria, of Portugal, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
“I wanted to be quick, to be honest. I’m not going to lie,” Alcaraz said. “But at the end, I realized that just playing four sets, it was really good for me to test everything physically, to test my body, how I feel, and tomorrow how I’m going to feel after this match.”
The defending champion rebounded from a quick deficit by winning eight straight games and beat Jaime Faria 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday night.
The No. 2-seeded Alcaraz dropped his serve midway through the first set but soon was back to playing long stretches of flawless tennis.
“After that I just tried to be focused, tried to stay calm and I’m thinking that good things are going to happen again,” Alcaraz said.
He didn't drop a set last year until the final against Jannik Sinner, becoming the first man since Roger Federer in 2015 to go through his first six matches without doing so. He then beat Sinner in four sets for his second U.S. Open title.
The 23-year-old Alcaraz then picked up his seventh major title at this year's Australian Open and is on a 16-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments.
But after missing the French Open and Wimbledon during his absence, even Alcaraz said he didn't know what to expect in Flushing Meadows, where he won his first major title in 2022 at 19.
Daniil Medvedev, the U.S. Open champion the year before that, said a player of Alcaraz’s caliber is always a top contender any time he is in the field.
“We have no idea how Carlos’ wrist is going to feel, body is going to feel going later into the tournament, but he’s definitely a top favorite for the title,” Medvedev said.
Faria, three months younger than Alcaraz, broke for a 4-3 lead in the first set and used a powerful serve to stay ahead. Alcaraz felt after getting broken that he was rushing too much.
“After that I just wanted to play short points, which was a mistake for me,” he said. “I just needed to play patient, to play long rallies, three, four, five shots, and then go for it.”
Alcaraz stressed again that he is no longer in pain and has been hitting his forehand without any restrictions in practice.
“I know once I step on the court, I've just got to go for it every time. I've got to feel normal,” Alcaraz said. “I have to hit like I was hitting before the injury, and let’s see what happens after that.
“I’m just feeling great,” he added. “There is no reason to be afraid and not hitting normal.”
See AP’s full tennis coverage here
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates winning a match against Jaime Faria, of Portugal, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, left, meets Jaime Faria, of Portugal, at the net after winning a match during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates winning a match against Jaime Faria, of Portugal, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates winning a match against Jaime Faria, of Portugal, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
CEUTA, Spain (AP) — The city of Ceuta, a tiny speck of Spanish territory perched on the northern African coast, normally celebrates its Sept. 2 annual official holiday largely ignored by the mainland.
But not this year, after Ceuta became the epicenter of Spain's worst border crisis in living memory.
In lieu of festivities, tens of thousands of people took to the streets Wednesday across Spain to protest the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ceuta, demanding solutions and blaming Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for his government's handling of it.
In Madrid, authorities said some 50,000 protesters turned out. After the demonstration ended, an Associated Press journalist heard shots and explosions. Spanish newspaper El País reported that police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds.
There were significant turnouts also in Barcelona, Valencia and Seville.
Waving Spanish flags, demonstrators shouted “A united Ceuta will never be defeated," “Sánchez to prison" and "Invaders — go home!” referring to the thousands of migrants still in the city.
In late July, about 72,000 people swam, scrambled or charged into the small Spanish territory neighboring Morocco, with at least 90 dying in the effort to reach Europe.
Most of the migrants quickly returned or were ushered back over the border, but around 5,000, including 1,200 minors, remain in Ceuta weeks later, according to the national government. Ceuta's local government cites a higher figure. Difficult questions likewise linger over what caused the mass crossing that the government says was fueled by an online campaign on social media.
The sudden influx of tens of thousands of migrants into Ceuta, which has a population of about 84,000, put a huge strain on resources and angered many residents. Local authorities said that Spain's central government ignored warning signs before the border was breached.
“What happened to us was not a migratory crisis,” Ceuta's regional leader, Juan Jesús Vivas, said during an institutional act on Wednesday to mark the holiday. “What happened was the violation of Spain's territorial integrity.”
Vivas is a member of Spain's leading conservative Popular Party, which, with Spain's far-right Vox party, has latched onto the Ceuta crisis and made it the focus of a political fight to oust the left-wing national government in Madrid.
The official organizer of Wednesday's protests in Madrid and more than 200 other cities and towns was the nonpartisan Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces. But the protests were promoted by the PP and Vox, which is strongly against irregular migration.
Spain’s minister of territorial policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, told Spanish National Radio that the protests were politically motivated.
“This is not to show support for the city of Ceuta or its residents; it is to attack the government of Spain,” Torres said.
The government has denied claims it has left Ceuta behind. This week, it earmarked 309 million euros ($357 million) to aid the city's social services, with special attention to housing migrants, its economy and security.
Many in Spain have asked if Morocco's government could have done more to prevent the frontier breakthrough.
Sánchez, however, has repeatedly defended the Moroccan authorities, saying they were swift to help in the return of most of the migrants. On Monday, the Spanish leader alleged — without presenting any evidence — that other countries had amplified disinformation related to the crisis.
“There is no information from any of our intelligence services that points to the participation of Moroccan authorities,” Sánchez told Cadena Ser radio on Monday.
Sánchez, who faces an election next year, said that a misinterpretation of a Supreme Court ruling and disinformation spread on social media encouraged people to rush the border.
The prime minister has also accused social media accounts linked to Russia and Israel and right-wing groups of exploiting and amplifying the Ceuta crisis after it happened on July 30 and 31. Israel and Russia have refuted that claim.
“Without facts, without materials backed up by numbers, dates, names, there is simply nothing to talk about,” Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters.
Sánchez’s government didn't provide examples of Russian or Israeli disinformation campaigns, instead citing internal reports from its Foreign Affairs Ministry and the European Commission's diplomatic service.
Many migrants, including unaccompanied minors, remain sleeping in the streets and camped on a beach despite authorities’ efforts to shelter, register and deport those who are eligible back to Morocco.
“We’re suffering and we want to get to Europe or find a solution right now. Here, we’re all sleeping on the beach and having a really hard time,” Moroccan Nebil Tazi told The Associated Press. “We’ve been waiting for a month, waiting for a solution here, but there isn’t one.”
Vivas, Ceuta's leading official, said that the focus should be on getting the autonomous city back to “normality,” as he vowed to continue to pursue the “truth” behind the crisis.
He urged Spain's central government to reinforce and strengthen the border with Morocco instead of depending on cooperation with its neighbor.
“If we don't do this, there will always be someone tempted to use migration as a tool for political ends,” Vivas said.
In a recorded video message published Wednesday, Sánchez said his government was putting all resources so Ceuta's residents could return to tranquility.
The Ceuta holiday commemorates Sept. 2, 1415, when the first Portuguese governor disembarked a few weeks after Portuguese soldiers claimed the terrain. It then passed into Spanish hands in 1580.
The city normally celebrates the day with an official ceremony, musical performances and cultural programs.
Suman Naishadham contributed from Madrid. Joseph Wilson reported and Renata Brito contributed to this report from Barcelona.
This version has been corrected to clarify that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez alleged that other countries amplified disinformation related to the crisis, not that they spread disinformation that caused the crisis.
Migrants stand near their tents at El Trampolín beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Migrants sit inside their tents at El Trampolín beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Migrants stand near their tents at El Trampolín beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Protesters march in support of Ceuta to mark the city's anniversary in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Protesters march in support of Ceuta to mark the city's anniversary in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Demonstrators prepare to take part in a protest in support of Ceuta marking the city's anniversary in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Protesters march in support of Ceuta to mark the city's anniversary in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Protesters march in support of Ceuta to mark the city's anniversary in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Protesters march in support of Ceuta to mark the city's anniversary in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Migrants stand at El Trampolín beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Migrants take a shower near their tents at El Trampolín beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
Migrants stand near their tents at El Trampolín beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
A migrant sits on a rock at El Trampolín beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
A migrant sits next to his tent at El Trampolín beach in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)
