Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning world number one, faced a moment of concern during his first-round match at the Japan Open in Tokyo. The Spanish tennis sensation twisted his left ankle while playing against Argentina's Sebastian Baez, with the first set tied at 2-2. Alcaraz received immediate treatment from the physio and had his ankle heavily strapped.

Despite the injury, Alcaraz returned to the court and broke Baez's serve to lead 5-4. However, his team seemed to signal for him to stop at this point, and play was subsequently suspended due to rain, causing another delay. When the match resumed under the roof, Alcaraz dominated the rest of the contest, securing a 6-4, 6-2 victory.

"I was scared too, I'm not going to lie," admitted Alcaraz, who has won six Grand Slam titles, including the US Open earlier this month. "When I landed on the 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 after that and play such good tennis. Let's see. I think it's not going to be easy the next day and a half for me. I will try to recover, to do whatever it takes to be ready for the next round."

Alcaraz is set to face Zizou Bergs of Belgium in the second round on Saturday. Meanwhile, Sonay Kartal of Great Britain secured a comfortable first-round victory over American Alycia Parks at the China Open in Beijing. Kartal, who recently impressed at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, won 6-3, 6-2 against world number 60 Parks. The 23-year-old Briton, who has slipped to 81 in the world rankings, will face 14th seed Daria Kasatkina in the second round.