'Warrior' Alcaraz battles through injury scare

World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz shrugged off an ankle injury to beat Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-2 on Sept 25 ina gritty start to his Japan Open campaign.

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The US Open champion crumpled to the ground chasing a shot in the fifth game of the opening set in Tokyo and sat on the court grimacing for several minutes.

The 22-year-old Spaniard had his left ankle heavily strapped duringa medical timeout before gingerly returning.

He soon began to move comfortably and broke world No. 41 Baez to take a 5-4 lead.

The match in Tokyo was delayed for a further half an hour as organisers closed the Ariake Coliseum roof with rain falling.

Alcaraz returned strongly and closed out the first set before breezing past Baez in the second.

“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 good. I will try to recover to do whatever it takes to be ready for the next round.