Carlos Alcaraz fights off ankle scare to power past Baez in Japan Open debut

Carlos Alcaraz overcame a fall and ankle discomfort to return to victory on the ATP Tour, defeating Argentina's Sebastián Báez 6-4, 6-2 in his Japan Open debut. The Spaniard had a scare early in the first set—after just four games played—but managed to recover and pull off the win.

There were many worried faces in Tokyo when Alcaraz suffered a fall just as the 5th game began (score 2-2 so far). The Spaniard appeared to be on the verge of retiring after twisting his ankle and had to call for a medical timeout. After being taped up by the doctors, he managed to return to the court and deliver a solid performance in his first tournament in Asia this season.

Alcaraz arrived in Tokyo just days after his stint in San Francisco, where he was the leader of Team Europe at the Laver Cup. The win, however, went to Team World, marked by a victory from Fritz over Alcaraz on the second day. Regardless, the 22-year-old star looks to put the Europeans' disappointing loss behind him and is already gaining momentum in the Asian swing.

Alcaraz's start was electric: the six-time Grand Slam champion immediately broke World No. 41 Báez and took a quick 2-0 lead. But the momentum vanished just as fast. The Argentine broke back immediately, leveling the match. It was on the very next point, at 2-2, that Alcaraz suffered a sudden fall, requiring a multi-minute medical timeout to have his ankle heavily taped before he could continue.

The World No. 1 returned to the court after the injury and began to settle back in. The Spaniard managed a couple of points in the next game while starting to show signs that the injury wasn't significant. The Spaniard did not falter on his first serve—maintaining an 80% consistency with 67% effectiveness—though he didn't win any points with his second serve.

The score remained equal until 4-4, a moment when Báez felt the pressure, squandering a 40-0 advantage that would have put him ahead, allowing Alcaraz to secure the crucial break late in the set. This put him ahead 5-4 with a chance to serve out the set, but rain forced the match to be interrupted.

Taking advantage of the match delay, Alcaraz approached his bench and exchanged a few words with his manager, Albert Molina. "It hurts sometimes," the six-time major champion admitted, while Molina advised him not to keep exposing himself if he felt the pain was too strong.

The second set quickly began with Alcaraz's dominance, as he snatched an opening break and then used his service game to race ahead 2-0. The World No. 1 showed no signs of physical discomfort at this point, looking relentless on his serve to hold the advantage.

"Carlitos" barely conceded any points on his serve and secured new break opportunities while leading 3-1, taking his first chance to extend his lead with a double break. Báez struggled to fight back but never managed to trouble Alcaraz's impeccable service games. Alcaraz ultimately sealed the 6-4, 6-2 victory in a straightforward second set. He now awaits the winner between Alejandro Tabilo and Zizou Bergs in the second round.