First the pain, then the reaction: Carlos Alcaraz passes the first round in Tokyo

Carlos Alcaraz tops the first round of the Japan Open in Tokyo, officially launching a long-distance challenge to Jannik Sinner, who is instead engaged in another ATP 500, the one in Beijing, China. However, the Murcian had to work harder than expected, at least as far as the first set was concerned, to beat world number 41 Sebastian Baez: 6-4, 6-2 the final score.

Despite a lightning start, which saw the world number 1 immediately go 2-0 up, Baez reacted vehemently, winning four of the next five games to take a 4-3 lead, also taking advantage of a slip on the court by Alcaraz, who appeared shortly after the fall himself to be in quite a bit of pain as he touched his ankle, requiring medical attention before resuming play.

A couple of brief rain interruptions, however, broke the Argentine’s rhythm, as Alcaraz grew game after game, first bringing home the opening fraction with a score of 6-4 and then literally dominating the next one, with a 6-2 win that perfectly told the values on the court in the second set. Thus ended the match, after one’hour and twenty-one minutes of play, in favor of Carlos Alcaraz.

With Jannik Sinner just over two thousand kilometers away as the crow flies, the most formidable opponent for Alcaraz in Tokyo is Taylor Fritz, the No. 2 seed in the Japan Open and a possible opponent in the final. The American, however, struggled not a little in the first round of the tournament, beating Canadian Gabriel Diallo in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), at the end of a match that lasted two hours and eleven minutes.