Carlos Alcaraz admits he was 'scared' after match suspended and row with coaches
Carlos Alcaraz overcame an ankle injury and a row with his coaching team to beat Sebastian Baez in the first round of the Japan Open on Monday
Carlos Alcaraz has confessed to being 'terrified' after injuring himself during his Japan Open clash with Sebastian Baez. The rising Spanish star triumphed in straight sets to advance to the next round but had to battle through some challenges on his path to victory.
Early in the opening set, he appeared to twist his ankle and collapsed to the ground in agony. Alcaraz received immediate medical attention on the court before getting up and limping to his chair. A physiotherapist wrapped up his injured ankle and he was able to continue after telling his team that he would be fine.
A few games later, Alcaraz was involved in a heated exchange with members of his support group during another break in play. The news emerges as Rory McIlroy was forced to sell $2.7M dream home and move to luxury $21M property.
Both parties seemed frustrated and Alcaraz was heard discussing his injury in Spanish, saying: "I feel it. In some situations, no, but in others, it hurts me."
At that point, the match was suspended due to rain, but officials quickly closed the roof and it was able to continue a few minutes later.
Asked about his injury scare after the match, he said: "I was scared, I'm not going to lie. When I rolled my ankle I was worried, to be honest, because it didn't feel good at the beginning.
"I'm just happy that I was able to play ater that, playing such good tennis and finishing the match like this, quite good. Let's see.
"The next day I will try and recover, to do whatever it takes to be ready for the next round and try to play. I have a good enough level to compete in the next round, but [the injury scare] was bad and unlucky."
Alcaraz will be hoping to bounce back completely ahead of his upcoming clash, where he'll face off against Belgian opponent Zizou Bergs.
This comes just days after John McEnroe showered massive praise on the Spanish star by calling him the finest player he's ever witnessed at his age.
Speaking last week, the American said: "You get Roger [Federer], Rafa [Nadal] and Novak [Djokovic] and you're like: 'I'm looking at the three greatest players that ever lived'.
"And suddenly, somehow, along comes this other guy from Spain. I remember seeing him, he was probably 17: 'Hey, this guy's got some talent. That guy is pretty quick out there'.
"Never in my wildest dreams... I'll tell you, of all the players I've ever watched, at this age, I've never seen a player this good, this complete the last two or three years."
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