Carlos Alcaraz stepped onto the court for his second-round match at the 2025 Japan Open in Tokyo with heavy strapping on his foot and leg. But he walked off healthy and victorious.
Just two days earlier, things looked pretty scary.
Alcaraz hurt his left foot during his opening match at this ATP 500 tournament. He went down hard in the fifth game against Sebastian Baez, and for a few terrifying seconds, it looked like he might have to quit on the spot.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Alcaraz | 22 | 68,791 | 25 - 5 |
The Spaniard managed to shake it off though.
After a quick medical timeout, he was able to keep playing. He won that match in straight sets, but nobody knew if he’d be back for round two.
Reports from Spain weren’t exactly encouraging either. Alcaraz was still in pain a full day after the injury, which didn’t sound great heading into his match against Zizou Bergs.
But there he was Saturday evening, ready to compete.
His left foot was wrapped up pretty heavily, and you could tell he wasn’t moving quite right early on. He actually lost two of the first three games and found himself down a break.
That’s when the six-time Grand Slam champion started to find his rhythm.
Alcaraz turned things around and won 6-4, 6-3. It wasn’t his prettiest match – he got broken three times, which is unusual for him – but it was enough to get the job done.
After the win, everyone wanted to know about that ankle.
Alcaraz admitted he’s still not at 100%, but he felt good enough to play. He gave major credit to his physiotherapist, Juanjo Moreno, for the work they did during his 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."
Now it’s time to focus on winning Tokyo
With the injury scare behind him, Alcaraz can start thinking about why he came to Japan – to win his first Japan Open title.
He’s already locked up a quarterfinal spot in his Tokyo debut.
His next opponent will be Brandon Nakashima, which probably isn’t the American he expected to face. Eighth-seeded Frances Tiafoe got knocked out in the first round, giving Nakashima a chance to make some noise.
If Alcaraz gets past Nakashima, he’ll face either fourth-seeded Casper Ruud or Aleksandar Vukic in the semifinals.
The other half of the draw is loaded with talent. Taylor Fritz, Sebastian Korda, Holger Rune, and Jenson Brooksby are all battling for their spot in the final.
Not a bad field for Alcaraz’s first trip to Tokyo – assuming that ankle keeps holding up.
