Carlos Alcaraz came back from one set down to beat Casper Ruud 3-6 6-3 6-4 in 2 hours and 8 minutes reaching the final at the Japan Open in Tokyo on his debut at this tournament.
Alcaraz has reached his ninth straight ATP Tour Final since April and the tenth title match of the season.
Ruud saved a total of four break points in the fifth and seventh games of the opening set. The Norwegian player earned a break in the eighth game and held serve at 5-3 to close out the first set.
Alcaraz fended off a break point in the first game of the second set before breaking serve in the second game. Both players held on serve without dropping a point in the next games. Alcaraz held at 15 in the ninth game to force the match to the decider.
Alcaraz saved two break points in the fourth game of the third set before breaking serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Alcaraz held on his next service games and sealed the win with a hold to 15 at 5-4.
Alcaraz hit 42 winners to 33 unforced errors and won four more points than Ruud.
“I had a lot of chances in the first set. I had four break points if I’m not wrong. It’s just about details, so I just tried to be more positive than the first set. I was a little bit mad with myself, so I just tried to play with joy again, putting a lot of positive thoughts in my mind”, said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz set up a championships match against world number 5 Taylor Fritz, who beat the world number 1 player at the Laver Cup in San Francisco.
Fritz hit 13 aces in his 6-4 6-3 win over Jenson Brooksby reaching his first hard-court final of 2025. Fritz climbed to fifth in the ATP Live Race to Turin.
Fritz saved two break points in the ninth game before breaking at deuce in the 10th game to close out the first set 6-4. The US player earned a break in the fourth game and served out the win on his match point.
“I served insanely well: High percentage first serves and spots too. It felt like any game that I didn’t hit three aces, he was really outplaying me from the baseline. I was able to hang in on my serve, and then capitalise on that scoreboard pressure. My serve got me through it”, said Fritz.
