Why Carlos Alcaraz was 'scared' before winning Japan Open first-round match in straight sets against Sebastian Baez

Carlos Alcaraz overcame an injury scare and a 30-minute rain delay on debut at the Japan Open in Tokyo, defeating Sebastian Baez 6-4 6-2 on Thursday evening. Midway through the opening set, world No. 1 Alcaraz collapsed onto the court clutching his left ankle and heel, requiring on-court treatment and strapping. As he prepared to serve for the set, play was then halted due to rain.

Carlos Alcaraz admitted he was "scared" that injury would derail hopes of success at the Japan Open, as the world No. 1 shook off an ankle problem during his first-round win in Tokyo on Thursday.

With the first set level at 2-2 against Argentina's Sebastian Baez, the top-seeded Spaniard was clearly in pain after twisting his left ankle, and had it heavily strapped up by the physio during a prolonged period of treatment before play resumed.

To add further complications, upon returning to court, it was not long after Alcaraz had broken Baez to lead 5-4 that play was suspended due to rain, although Alcaraz's team appeared to signal for another medical time-out just before the weather interruption.

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The US Open champion would make light work of his opponent under the roof, however, re-emerging to wrap up the contest with a dominant 6-4 6-2 victory.

"I was scared too, I'm not going to lie," six-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz said afterwards.

"When I landed on the ankle, I was worried, to be honest, because it didn't feel good at the beginning. I'm just happy that I was able to play after that and play such good tennis. Let's see.

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"I think it's not going to be easy the next day and a half for me. I will try to recover, to do whatever it takes to be ready for the next round.

"I couldn’t do anything at all during the first five minutes [after] I did it. I was worried that I wouldn’t have the confidence to finish the match, but the physio came and did some tests.

"It was good I could walk to the bench and that gave me confidence [to continue]. I’m trying to have a warrior mentality in every match, in every aspect of everything."

Alcaraz facing 'important' day of rest after concerning ankle scare - 'I was worried'

Video credit: SNTV

This week, Alcaraz is bidding to become the 13th member of the ATP No. 1 Club to capture the title in Tokyo. He enters the tournament with a tour-leading 63 match wins and seven titles in 2025.

The 22-year-old is through to face Zizou Bergs in the last 16 on Saturday. The Belgian defeated the in-form Chengdu champion Alejandro Tabilo 1-6 7-6(2) 7-6(4). 

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Video credit: TNT Sports

Casper Ruud overcame the loss of the first set to see off Japanese wildcard Shintaro Mochizuki 4-6 6-1 6-1. The former Nitto ATP Finals runner-up is in line to face Alcaraz in the semi-finals at the ATP 500 event should the pair both progress.

Rudd - who faces Matteo Berrettini next - said: "My goal is to have a good end of the season, and I haven’t really had that in the past except for Turin, [where] I’ve had some good results. Indoors is not my forte.

"Let’s see… It was a little tough to play today, coming a long way from San Francisco [at the Laver Cup], but I’m very happy I was able to overcome it."

Jannik Sinner made a winning return to action as he beat Marin Cilic 6-2 6-2 at the China Open.

The world No. 2 is competing for the first time since his US Open final defeat to Alcaraz.

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