Carlos Alcaraz shares crucial health update after massive injury scare in Tokyo
NewsThursday, 25 September 2025 at 14:17
Carlos Alcaraz's debut in Tokyo started with a huge injury scare in his opening match, and that was obviously the main talking point of his post-match interview.
Thousands of fans in Tokyo were delighted to learn that they would be able to see Alcaraz this year. The 22-year-old Spaniard chose to compete in the Japanese capital instead of the Chinese one, swapping the Japan Open for the China Open, where he had played the previous year.
However, Alcaraz's journey through the Japan Open draw almost came to an end after just 20 minutes of play. He appeared to have injured himself during the fifth game of his first-round match against Sebastian Baez.
The six-time Grand Slam champion fell to the ground and appeared to be in pain. He then consulted the physiotherapist available at the event and also requested a medical timeout to properly tape his ankle, which he felt was needed to continue.
At that moment, it was not clear whether the top seed would return to the court just for a couple of minutes before deciding to retire or if he really had an intention to finish the match.
That became clear after just a few minutes when Alcaraz managed to win the first set of the match 6-4. He obviously kept playing after that and won the match in 80 minutes, 6-4, 6-2.
The world No. 1 set up a second-round meeting with Zizou Bergs, but the question now is whether that match will happen. After his win, Alcaraz was asked about his ankle, and he admitted that even he was scared after falling on the court.
"I was scared too, I’m not gonna lie. When I planted the ankle, I was worried, because it didn’t feel good at the beginning. So, 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."
Alcaraz also admitted that he was quite scared in the first minutes after the scare. He was initially not sure of continuing, but the physio gave him the confidence to continue after evaluating the severity of his injury.
"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."
If Alcaraz is healthy enough to compete, he will take on Zizou Bergs on Saturday. After that, he is sure to avoid a seeded opponent, as the eighth-seeded Frances Tiafoe has already lost in the first round. Alcaraz would play against Marton Fucsovics or Brandon Nakashima in the quarter-finals.
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