Alcaraz sweats on ankle injury after opening win in Japan; Sinner down Cilic to launch China Open title bid

World number one Carlos Alcaraz is sweating on his fitness at the Japan Open after injuring his ankle in a 6-4, 6-2 opening win over Argentina’s Sebastian Baez on Thursday.

US Open champion Alcaraz 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 Spaniard had his left ankle heavily strapped during a medical timeout before gingerly returning.

He soon began to move comfortably and broke world number 41 Baez to take a 5-4 lead.

The match was then delayed for a further half an hour as organisers closed the stadium roof with rain falling.

Six-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz returned strongly and closed out the first set before breezing past Baez in the second.

The Spaniard was unclear afterwards as to the extent of the injury, saying “if it can affect the rest of the tournament, I don’t know”.

“It’s going to be an important day and a half that I have ahead for me before the next match,” he said.

“We will see what happens. I will do whatever it takes to be in good shape and ready to play in the next round.”

Alcaraz is playing at the Japan Open for the first time and the crowd gave him a warm cheer as he emerged in a burgundy sleeveless outfit.

Their applause soon turned to concern when he went down injured halfway through the first set, with his reaction suggesting he may be unable to continue.

“I was worried because the first minutes of playing, my ankle didn’t feel good at all,” said Alcaraz.

“But then after all I started to feel a little bit better. I could walk to the bench, which for me was a relief.”

Alcaraz faces world number 45 Zizou Bergs of Belgium in the next round on Saturday.

Number two seed Taylor Fritz of the US survived a tough opening test against Canada’s Gabriel Diallo to go through 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).

Fritz, the world number five, beat Alcaraz at the Laver Cup in San Francisco last week.

“In general, from the two matches I played at the Laver Cup it does give me a lot of confidence,” said Fritz.

“I know that I’m playing good tennis but it’s not easy to come here, fly that far, jet lag, one day practice then play, switch different court conditions, different balls.”

Norway’s number four seed Casper Ruud also advanced, with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki.

Number three seed Holger Rune of Denmark beat Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 7-6 (9/7), 6-1, but number five Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic went out after losing 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to Japanese qualifier Sho Shimabukuro.

Sinner kickstarts Beijing campaign with Cilic win

Italian Grand Slam winner Jannik Sinner made a quick start in his bid to reclaim the China Open trophy, powering past two-time finalist Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2 in the first round even as China’s Zhang Zhizhen lost 6-4, 6-2 to France’s Terence Atmane on the Lotus Court on Thursday.

Competing for the first time since his US Open final defeat to Spaniard Alcaraz, with which he also ceded the No. 1 spot in the ATP Rankings, Sinner bounced back emphatically. The 24-year-old Italian, who triumphed on his Beijing debut in 2023 and reached last year’s final, saved the only break point he faced upon return to the Chinese ATP 500 event, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Sinner will aim to keep pace in his battle with rival Alcaraz for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours across the remaining months of the season. He trails the Spaniard, who is competing in Tokyo, by 2,590 points in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

Sinner will next face Terence Atmane for the second time in as many months. The French qualifier earlier defeated Zhang Zhizhen for his first tour-level win since his surprise run to the semi-finals in Cincinnati, where he was halted by Sinner in the pair’s first ATP head-to-head clash.

The opening set went on serve for the first nine games before world No. 68 Atmane broke in the 10th with a forehand winner. In the second set, the Frenchman capitalised on Zhang’s double fault to break in the fourth game, added another break in the eighth, and closed out the match in 71 minutes.

Wildcard entrant Zhang, 28, has a career-high ranking of No. 31 and is regarded as China’s most successful male tennis player. However, injuries have hampered his progress this year, keeping him sidelined since the Indian Wells Masters in March and dropping his world ranking to 370.

The Shanghai native made his return at last week’s Hangzhou Open, where he defeated compatriot Bu Yunchaokete in the first round before falling to Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic.

Earlier in the day in the Chinese capital, Alexandre Muller sprang an early upset by rallying past Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 for his first Top 10 win on hard courts and third overall (3-9). He will next play Fabian Marozsan, who ousted Benjamin Bonzi 7-6(1), 6-3 on his Beijing debut.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also booked his spot in the second round with a clinical 6-1, 6-3 victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli. The Spaniard, who hit 21 winners, including six aces, awaits eighth seed Daniil Medvedev or Cameron Norrie next in Beijing.

Agencies