Preview ATP Japan Open Final: Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz set to battle for glory in Tokyo

However, this opportunity may have never happened. Alcaraz overcame an early scare in his first-round match against Sebastian Baez. In the premature stages, he went down with an ankle injury, and got treatment for it. He was recommended to retire by his team with their concern growing for the 22-year-old. Alcaraz ignored this and went on to comfortably defeat his Argentine opponent.

He would then get the better of Zizou Bergs and Brandon Nakashima, with Alcaraz playing some incredible tennis against the American. It was a lot tougher against Casper Ruud, and for the first time in Japan he lost a set and went behind. He made up for this early in the second set, breaking the Norwegian's serve and going 3-0 up before holding serve to level the tie. He once more found a solitary break in the third set and managed to stick in front to see off the three-time Grand Slam finalist to make his tenth final of 2025.

When he is on it, he is unstoppable. Even when he is not at his best, it is an uphill battle to defeat him. There are arguments that he has no weakness. There was an argument that he would disapear at times in matches, but that does not to be the case anymore, keeping a high level throughout his matches.

Fritz looking to challenge the world number one

While he maybe has not been able to build on the US Open and ATP Finals final as much as he would have hoped for, it has still been a very good year for the Italian. He made it to the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time, and has reached three Masters 1000 semis, whilst clinching two titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.

The American number one has featured in numerous tournaments this year, with Alcaraz only winning more matches than him this year. This has helped him stick around in a lofty position in the rankings, currently sitting as the world number five.

He is targeting a second title in Japan after winning the event in 2022, defeating Frances Tiafoe in straight sets for his second biggest title to-date. It is always going to be tricky to win the title when someone of the calibre of Alcaraz is playing in it, but Fritz will go into the match shortly after achieving his first win over the Spaniard in the Laver Cup, defeating him 6-3, 6-2.

Fritz has been unable to replicate that performance so far in Japan, having been through a lot of battles and challenging ties. Enroute to the final, he defeated Gabriel Diallo, Nuno Broges, Sebastian Korda, and Jenson Brooksby in four tight matches.

The American number one boasts a big serve and is aggressive on the baseline. He has also proved this week that he can comeback from being a break down in multiple scenarios. It is yet to be seen if that will be enough to clinch his third title of 2025.