Carlos Alcaraz was perhaps confronted with the strict examination of his debut run on the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships on Monday, but he appeared with flag and pennant to book his place in the final.
The number 1 player in the PIF ATP ranking list overcame a resilient Casper Ruud and his own fitness-taking, to obtain a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over the ATP 500 event. Alcaraz, who sometimes showed a limited movement during the opening set, eventually rediscovered his sharpness to set up a title setup with former Tokyo champion Taylor Fritz.
“I had many chances in the first set,” said Alcaraz. “I had four breaking points if I am not wrong. It’s just about details, so I just tried to be more positive than the first set. I was a bit angry with myself, so I just tried to play with joy again and put a lot of positive thoughts in my thoughts.”
With his two hours, eight minutes of victory, Alcaraz won his personal best 66th victory in a season. On Tuesday, 22-year-old Spaniard will look for revenge against Fritz, who defeated him at the Laver Cup last week.
“I know he has been playing great tennis lately,” said Alcaraz about Fritz, who also defeated Alexander Zverev in San Francisco. “Since the Laver Cup against me, against Zverev, and here in this tournament, he feels great and really comfortable on the field. Everything is different since San Francisco … but it’s a different challenge for me and I look forward to it.”
Since he only adjusted his left in his Tokyo opener against Sebastian Baez, Alcaraz had bought the concern and proved it with assertive victories. Still against Ruud, who ruthlessly tested him with heavy top spider and corners in court, the discomfort of the Spaniard was clearer.
Faced with a breaking point in the seventh game, Ruud attacked with a deep approach in the backhand corner of Alcaraz. Although he got the ball back at the feet of his opponent, Alcaraz hesitated a moment of vulnerability to stretching that ball and chasing the subsequent drop -volley – underlining his struggles in the first set.
See how Alcaraz is struggling to deal with Ruud at the breaking point:
The aggressive, risky tactics of Alcaraz in the first set yielded 15 non-forced errors, but he herkalibrated in the second and found consistency: he only dropped four of the 24 points behind his delivery, according to Infosys ATP statistics, to overwhelm Ruud and to grant the match.
From there, Alcaraz wore that momentum in the decisive set, where he showed his freedom of movement and fearless shotmaking, and any injuries are silent about the doubt. To overcome Fritz in the final, however, the Spaniard needs another commander serving performances against one of the most formidable servers of the Tour.
Despite the defeat, Ruud rose two places to the 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin, while the former finalist tries to return to the Nitto ATP Finals.
Earlier on Monday, Fritz threw his way to the final by serving his way along Countryman Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-3. Although played sometimes played from the baseline, Fritz compensated 13 aces to secure his first hard final of 2025 and to climb to the fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin.
“To be honest, just by bone,” Fritz said when he was asked how he could prevail. “I served incredibly well: high percentage serves first and spots too. It felt like a game that I hadn’t hit three aces, he really played from the basic line. I was able to hang on my serve and then take advantage of that scoreboard print. My serve brought me through it.”
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