Carlos Alcaraz ‘scared’ after injuring ankle but wins Japan Open first-round match

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz said he was “scared” by the ankle injury he suffered during his Tokyo Open win over Sebástian Báez on Thursday.

Alcaraz defeated the Argentine 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round, but it briefly looked as though the Spaniard had suffered a serious injury when he stumbled to the floor in the first set.

With Báez serving at 2-2, 15-0, Alcaraz started running for a drop volley but then collapsed and covered his face in his hands. Visibly distressed, he initially didn’t want to put any weight on his left foot, but took a medical timeout and returned to the court with his ankle heavily strapped.

A few games later, it looked as though his team were encouraging Alcaraz to stop, but he continued and after a rain delay found his range again. Playing more aggressively than usual at times to try and shorten points, he edged the first set and then ran away with the second.

In his on-court interview following the win, Alcaraz said: “I was scared too, I’m not gonna lie. When I landed (on) the ankle, I was worried to be honest because I didn’t feel good at the beginning. So I’m just happy that I was able to play after that and play such good tennis — finish the match quite decent, quite good.”

On whether he could recover in the next day or so, Alcaraz added: “Let’s see. It’s not gonna be easy the next day, day-and-a-half for me so I will try and recover — to do whatever it takes to be ready for the next round. To try to play and have a level good enough to compete in the next round.

“It was unlucky so let’s see.”

This was Alcaraz’s first tour-level match since winning the U.S. Open three weeks ago and reclaiming the world No. 1 ranking from Jannik Sinner. The two can’t meet again this week as Sinner is competing at the China Open in Beijing, where he beat Marin Cilic in straight sets on Thursday to reach the second round.

Alcaraz, who has now won 48 of his last 51 matches, is scheduled to face Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in the Tokyo Open second round on Saturday, fitness permitting.

(Top photo: Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)

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