Tokyo: World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz survived a mid-match injury scare and a rain delay to take down Argentine Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-2 on his debut at Japan Open in Tokyo on Thursday.
Alcaraz dropped to the floor, holding his left ankle and heel, as he stretched for a forehand in the fifth game of the first set. The 22-year-old Spaniard continued after receiving treatment and strapping. Later, he was interrupted while serving for the set due to a 30-minute relay delay.
“I was scared too, I’m not gonna lie,” Alcaraz said. “When I planted the ankle, I was worried, because it didn’t feel good at the beginning. I’m just happy that I was able to play good tennis after that and finish the match quite well. I will try to recover to do whatever it takes to be ready for the next round.”
Casper Ruud, the fourth-seeded Norwegian, overcame a slow start to defeat local wildcard Shintaro Mochizuki 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. He will be up against big-serving Italian Matteo Berrettini in the next round.
Second-seeded American Taylor Fritz survived a tough opener against Canada’s Gabriel Diallo to go through 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) while third-seeded Dane Holger Rune beat Serbian Hamad Medjedovic 7-6(7), 6-1.
Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro stunned fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-6(4). Agencies
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