Carlos Alcaraz again looked untroubled by his ankle injury as he brushed aside American Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday to reach the Japan Open semi-finals. The world number one hurt himself during his opening match in Tokyo and he admitted after his next outing that the injury had worried him and was on his mind on the court. The Spaniard again played with strapping showing above the top of his left sock but it did not appear to trouble him in another comfortable victory.
Alcaraz won in an hour and 20 minutes and will face Norway’s world number 12 Casper Ruud in Monday’s semi-finals.
“I think I just played unbelievable today, I’m not going to lie,” Alcaraz said.
“I felt like I could do everything on court, playing every shot.”
Alcaraz had his service broken three times in his previous night’s win over Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.
He gave Nakashima no such help and blazed into a one-set lead in front of an adoring Tokyo crowd.
World number 33 Nakashima tried to get a foothold in the second set but Alcaraz broke him in the fifth game and never looked back.
The Spaniard spurned three match points but made no mistake a game later, sealing the deal with a vicious forehand that hit the baseline.
Alcaraz’s semi-final opponent Ruud beat Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-2.
World number five Taylor Fritz will play fellow American Jenson Brooksby in the other semi-final.
Fritz, the number two seed, came through a tough quarter-final against another American, Sebastian Korda, winning 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.
Brooksby beat the number three seed, Denmark’s Holger Rune, 6-3, 6-3.
Fritz, who beat Alcaraz this month at the Laver Cup, said he had struggled with the weather in Tokyo, with temperatures around 27C for his late morning match.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be that hot and humid,” he said.
“Tough to play in that heat and play a lot of physical, long points.”
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