New York, Sep 2 (IANS) Portugal’s Jaime Faria will take another significant step in his rapidly developing career when he faces defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday, with the 23-year-old arriving at Arthur Ashe Stadium after claiming a landmark five-set victory over American Jenson Brooksby and insisting he is determined to continue pushing his limits.
Faria came through a dramatic opening-round contest against Brooksby on Sunday, recovering from the pressure of a hostile home crowd and a late surge from the American after building a two-set lead. The victory delivered his first main-draw win at the hard-court major and placed him in rare company in Portuguese tennis history.
By winning a main-draw match at the US Open, Faria became only the third Portuguese player to record victories at all four Grand Slam tournaments, following Joao Sousa and Nuno Borges. But the milestone has only strengthened his desire to achieve more.
“Yes, that’s a big thing for me, for Portugal, and for my team, because pretty much all of them I know I’ve worked with since the past are all Portuguese and players that used to play at this level,” Faria said when told he was the third Portuguese man to win a match at all four majors. “But to do this, it’s a big thing for me.
“I want to keep going because I know I’m young and I can do greater things. Portugal doesn’t have a big culture in tennis, so I just want to make history, but also just try to continue my process and let’s see where it ends.”
His reward for surviving the five-set test is a first ATP Head2Head meeting with World No. 3 Alcaraz, who began his title defence with a straight-sets victory over Roman Safiullin on Monday after returning from a right wrist injury.
Before the identity of his next opponent was confirmed, Faria already understood the scale of the challenge that awaited him.
“The other player doesn’t need a presentation,” Faria had told ATPTour.com when he was still waiting to discover his second-round opponent.
The match against Brooksby also brought back memories of another difficult five-set experience earlier this season. At Roland Garros, Faria had taken a two-set lead over Frances Tiafoe in the third round before the American fought back to win.
That experience remained fresh in his mind as Brooksby began mounting his own comeback in New York.
“Always against Americans,” Faria said with a wry smile. “I try to learn from all the experiences (such as) the match against Tiafoe. Today, during the match, I was remembering it all over again… To have the match under control and then watch the other guy turn it, it’s not easy.
“I was thinking back (to the Tiafoe match), but it’s different because at that time there were different thoughts. I was thinking about bigger things like the fourth round (of a major) for the first time. Then, it was not the crowd. It was him starting to play very well. He was giving me no small errors.”
Faria’s ability to close out the Brooksby contest represented another step in a season in which his ambitions have grown alongside his results. After entering the Top 100 for the first time last year, the Portuguese has continued to establish himself on the ATP Tour.
His recent progress included a breakthrough victory over Ben Shelton in Cincinnati, where he registered the first Top-10 win of his career. Now ranked No. 72 in the ATP Rankings, just two places below his career-best position, Faria believes a change in mentality has played an important role in his development.
“I think what made a big difference this year was more the mindset that I was putting on the work,” he said. “All the time I’m working very well on court and off the court, but not with the mindset that I want to be one of those guys. I want to see myself up there.”
Faria has also credited his work with former Portuguese player Pedro Sousa for helping reinforce his confidence and providing a fresh perspective within his team.
Despite showing flashes of his ability in the past, the Portuguese believes finding greater consistency has become the central focus of his development.
“I have some really good shots and I have done some good things in the past, but not consistently,” said Faria, who owns an 18-23 career tour-level record, according to the ATP Win/Loss Index. “The key thing was to be more consistent during the whole year.”
That pursuit of consistency will now face its biggest examination yet against Alcaraz on Wednesday. Faria has already secured a place in Portuguese tennis history during his US Open campaign, but the 23-year-old’s focus remains firmly on what could come next.
–IANS
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