Alcaraz survives injury scare and rain delay to win Tokyo opener

World fig 1 Carlos Alcaraz shrugged disconnected an ankle wounded to bushed Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-2 connected Thursday successful a gritty commencement to his Japan Open campaign.

US Open champion Alcaraz crumpled to the crushed chasing a changeable successful the 5th crippled of the opening acceptable successful Tokyo and sat connected the tribunal grimacing for respective minutes.

The Spaniard had his near ankle heavy strapped during a aesculapian timeout earlier gingerly returning.

He soon began to determination comfortably and broke satellite fig 41 Baez to instrumentality a 5-4 lead.

The lucifer was delayed for a further fractional an hr arsenic organisers closed the stadium extortion with rainfall falling.

Alcaraz returned powerfully and closed retired the archetypal acceptable earlier breezing past Baez successful the second.

“I person to spot aboriginal if the result is going to beryllium good,” Alcaraz said of his wounded aft the match.

Alcaraz is playing astatine the Japan Open for the archetypal clip and the assemblage gave him a lukewarm cheer arsenic helium emerged successful a burgundy sleeveless outfit with platinum blond hair.

But their applause soon turned to interest erstwhile helium went down injured halfway done the archetypal set, with his absorption suggesting helium whitethorn beryllium incapable to continue.

Alcaraz someway recovered a mode to transportation connected and went connected to predominate the match, winning successful 1 hr and 30 minutes erstwhile Baez deed a instrumentality long.

Number 2 effect Taylor Fritz of the US survived a pugnacious opening trial against Canada’s Gabriel Diallo to spell done 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).

Fritz, the satellite fig five, bushed Alcaraz astatine the Laver Cup successful San Francisco past week.

Norway’s fig 4 effect Casper Ruud besides advanced, with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 triumph implicit Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki.

Number 5 effect Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic went retired aft losing 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro.

The station Alcaraz survives wounded scare and rainfall hold to triumph Tokyo opener appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.