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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cYes, that\u2019s a big thing for me, for Portugal, and for my team, because pretty much all of them I know I\u2019ve worked with since the past are all Portuguese and players that used to play at this level,\u201d Faria said when told he was the third Portuguese man to win a match at all four majors. \u201cBut to do this, it\u2019s a big thing for me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI want to keep going because I know I\u2019m young and I can do greater things. Portugal doesn\u2019t have a big culture in tennis, so I just want to make history, but also just try to continue my process and let\u2019s see where it ends.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Before the identity of his next opponent was confirmed, Faria already understood the scale of the challenge that awaited him.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe other player doesn\u2019t need a presentation,\u201d Faria had told ATPTour.com when he was still waiting to discover his second-round opponent.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
That experience remained fresh in his mind as Brooksby began mounting his own comeback in New York.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAlways against Americans,\u201d Faria said with a wry smile. \u201cI try to learn from all the experiences (such as) the match against Tiafoe. Today, during the match, I was remembering it all over again\u2026 To have the match under control and then watch the other guy turn it, it\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI was thinking back (to the Tiafoe match), but it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Faria\u2019s 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think what made a big difference this year was more the mindset that I was putting on the work,\u201d he said. \u201cAll the time I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Despite showing flashes of his ability in the past, the Portuguese believes finding greater consistency has become the central focus of his development.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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\u2019s focus remains firmly on what could come next.<\/p>\r\n\r\n