After recovering from an ankle injury in a 6-4, 6-2 win over Sebastian Baez from Argentina on Thursday, world number one Carlos Alcaraz is sweating on his fitness at the Japan Open.
In the fifth game of the opening set in Tokyo, US Open champion Alcaraz sat on the court grimacing for a while while chasing a shot.
Before gingerly returning, the Spaniard had his left ankle severely strapped during a medical timeout.
He soon took a 5-4 lead and quickly jumped up and overto the top of the world, breaking world number 41 Baez.
The stadium’s roof was closed for a further 30 minutes as organisers closed the venue while it was being rained.
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Alcaraz, a six-time Grand Slam champion, came out strong and won the first set before squeezing past Baez in the third.
Afterward, the Spaniard was unsure about the extent of the injury, stating that if it could have an impact on the tournament’s duration.
He declared, “I have a significant day and a half ahead of me before the next game.”
“We’ll see what happens,” the leader said. I’ll do everything possible to get ready for the following round and in good shape.
Alcaraz is debuting at the Japan Open, and as he emerged in a burgundy sleeveless outfit, the crowd cheered him on.
Their applause quickly turned into concern when he lost balance halfway through the opening set, suggesting that he might not be able to continue.
My ankle didn’t feel good at all during the first few minutes of play, Alcaraz said.
“But then, all of a sudden, I started to feel a little better. What was a relief for me to be able to walk to the bench.
In the following round, on Saturday, Alcaraz will face Belgian Zizou Bergs, who is 45.
The US’s Taylor Fritz, the number two seed, defeated Gabriel Diallo, the country’s No. 3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7 / 3), to win the match.
Last week at the Laver Cup in San Francisco, Fritz, the fifth-ranked player, defeated Alcaraz.
The two Laver Cup matches, in general, “give me a lot of confidence,” Fritz said.
“I’m playing good tennis, but it’s not easy to fly that far, experience jet lag, practice later in the day, switch between different court conditions, different balls,” I said.
Casper Ruud, the top seed in Norway, defeated Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, to advance.
