Carlos Alcaraz falls to lower-ranked Frances Tiafoe in New Jersey exhibition

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz returned from injury on Sunday for exhibition duty only to lose to World No. 30 Frances Tiafoe.

Alcaraz opted out of the Davis Cup after a runner-up finish at the ATP Finals in November because of a hamstring injury. He picked the New Jersey exhibition ‘A Racquet at The Rock’ as the event of his unofficial return and met a disappointing result.

The Spaniard lost the first set but bounced back to win the second, giving the Newark crowd more drama as he and Tiafoe headed to a 10-point tiebreak. He led the breaker 6-5 but the American then lost only two more points and marched across the finish line, winning 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.

The match won’t count toward their official head-to-head record, but this was Tiafoe’s first win over Alcaraz since their 2021 match-up in Barcelona.

Apart from these two, WTA stars Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova also featured in the event. They too faced each other in a singles showdown that went down to the wire. Pegula fell behind, losing the first set, but staged a comeback to ultimately topple Wimbledon finalist Anisimova 3-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8.

In the end, it was time for a doubles duel. Alcaraz joined forces with Pegula and Tiafoe sided with Anisimova for more tennis action, which culminated in the former duo prevailing 10-8 in super tiebreak.

In his short yet already successful career, Carlos Alcaraz has won every Grand Slam tournament except the Australian Open.

More surprisingly, he has yet to make it past the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park. He fell in the second round on his maiden appearance there in 2021 and in the third round the following year. He missed the tournament in 2023. In the last two editions, Alcaraz lost in the quarterfinals.

He aims to break the jinx in 2026 and complete the Career Grand Slam, that is winning all Majors at least once.

Alcaraz’s toughest challenge Down Under would be Jannik Sinner, who hasn’t lost a match there since after 2023. The Spaniard has traditionally entered the Australian Open without any match play in the opening weeks of a new season. The lack of on-court time has prevented him from settling into a rhythm.

Thus, he has faltered twice in the second week of the Melbourne Major, losing to Alexander Zverev in 2024 and Novak Djokovic earlier this year.