Carlos Alcaraz addresses injury concerns after another match in Tokyo

Saturday, 27 September 2025 at 15:30

alcaraz carlos atpfinals imagomarcocanoniero

byErik Virostko

Carlos Alcaraz appeared on the court for his second-round match at the 2025 Japan Open in Tokyo, and he finished it in good health, despite the strapping on his foot and leg.

Alcaraz suffered an unfortunate left-foot injury during his first-round match at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo. He fell to the ground during the fifth game of his match against Sebastian Baez, and for the first few seconds, it looked like he would immediately retire.

However, the Spaniard then started to feel better, and after a short medical timeout, he was able to continue playing. He won the match in two sets, but it wasn't clear whether he would appear again for his second-round match.

On top of that, reports from his native Spain suggested that Alcaraz was in pain even 24 hours after the unfortunate moment, which was all but positive news ahead of his meeting against Zizou Bergs.

But the six-time Grand Slam champion entered the court on Saturday evening to play against Bergs. His left foot was heavily strapped, but Alcaraz seemed to be ready to compete, even though he lost two of the first three games of the match. He was down a break after three games.

Yet, the top seed was able to increase his level and win the match in two sets, 6-4, 6-3. It was far from an ideal match for Alcaraz, who lost his serve three times in the match, but it was still enough to win.

Naturally, the main talking point after his win was his injury again. Alcaraz admitted that while he still wasn't at 100%, he felt good enough to compete, crediting his physiotherapist, Juanjo Moreno, for helping him a lot during the day off.

"It was tough, and it was a really important day and a half I had to recover as good as I could. I have said it before, and I will say it again, I have the best physio in the world, who I trust 100 per cent. The work he has done for the ankle has been great."

"I could play normally, which is great. Sometimes I was worried about some movements, when I could feel the ankle, but in general I played some great tennis, a great match."

Alcaraz's focus can now shift to the trophy in Tokyo

With Alcaraz healthy enough to compete, he can start focusing on why he travelled to Tokyo, and that's to win the trophy at the Japan Open. He now secured a quarter-final appearance on his debut in Tokyo.

Alcaraz's next opponent will be Brandon Nakashima, who is likely a different American than the one the world No. 1 might have expected to face in the quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Frances Tiafoe lost in the first round, and Nakashima used his chance to reach the quarter-finals.

Should Alcaraz win his match against Nakashima, his next opponent would be the winner of the match between the fourth-seeded Casper Ruud and Aleksandar Vukic. The second half of the draw is full of talented players, as Taylor Fritz, Sebastian Korda, Holger Rune, and Jenson Brooksby will fight for a spot in the final.