Carlos Alcaraz suffered a sprained ankle midway through the first set but recovered to get past Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-2 in round one of the Japan Open on Friday afternoon.
The top-ranked Spaniard rolled over on his ankle at 2-2 and collapsed to the ground.
“I was scared, too, I’m not gonna lie,” Alcaraz admitted. “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 good. 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.”
Other winners on the second day of main-draw competition were Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, and Jenson Brooksby. Fritz outlasted Gabriel Diallo in a third-set tiebreaker.
If healthy, Alcaraz will face Zizou Bergs in round two on Saturday.
nice one, Carlos