Carlos Alcaraz Advances to Japan Open Semifinals
Carlos Alcaraz demonstrated his dominance at the Japan Open by securing his place in the semifinals with a solid victory over Brandon Nakashima. After overcoming concerns about an ankle injury suffered on Thursday, Alcaraz displayed impeccable play, achieving a victory with scores of 6-2 and 6-4. This win places him in the semifinals of a tour-level tournament for the ninth consecutive time. Nakashima couldn’t counter Alcaraz’s powerful serve, who connected 25 winners. Although Alcaraz had opportunities to close the match earlier, he failed to convert three match points.In the next phase, Alcaraz will face Casper Ruud, who secured his place in the semifinals after defeating Aleksandar Vukic in less than an hour, with a score of 6-3 and 6-2. Taylor Fritz, seed number two, also managed to advance, defeating Sebastian Korda with a score of 6-3, 6-7 (5) and 6-3. Fritz will face his American compatriot Jenson Brooksby in the semifinals, who defeated the third seed, Holger Rune, with a result of 6-3 and 6-3.I always say that closing out a match is difficult. Even more difficult when you have match points, as happened to me when I was returning. Losing that game, I thought it was going to be really difficult, but I just tried to stay focused and play some great points in the last game. I don’t think I’ve played a last game like this, so I’m very happy about that.
Carlos Alcaraz
