Carlos Alcaraz once again demonstrated that he is the best player in the world. Tuesday in the Japan open, the 22-year-old Spaniard defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the final to claim his eighth trophy of the season and his 24th career title.
Carlos Alcaraz also got a payback on the win. Only a couple of weeks back, Fritz gave him a rare loss at the Laver Cup in San Francisco. This time, Alcaraz reversed the roles and everyone would remember why his 2025 has so far been almost unstoppable.
It was not a smooth sailing Tokyo run of Alcaraz. His first match (opening) shook his foot but he was able to recover fast. By the week-end he was smiling on court and had a half-dozen more 67th wins in his season.
Alcaraz said it has been a pleasure to play here in Tokyo before such fantastic fans. I am very pleased with the results that I achieved at the end of the week, despite the early scare of the ankle.
And the final itself was a display of all-round game of Alcaraz. In the first set, he crushed Fritz and then put the pressure in the second. Fritz, with a thigh problem, was slow to follow behind as Alcaraz ran to a 4-1 lead. A drop shot was successfully executed and won him the first Japan open and the first major of his career.
Carlos Alcaraz said that this was his best season to date. He won the French Open again, made the Wimbledon final and only lost one other final this year, at Barcelona to Holger Rune.
In retrospect, I did not start the year off on a high emotional note, however, I am proud of how I persevered and of all the people around me who eventually pushed me to this point.
Having another trophy in his hand and a year of milestones, the rise of Carlos Alcaraz is not yet showing signs of slowing down.
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