World number one Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a slow start to beat Casper Ruud 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Monday and reach the Japan Open final, where he will meet second seed Taylor Fritz with the chance to claim his eighth title of the year.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz<\/a> will also be seeking revenge in Tuesday’s clash in Tokyo after a shock defeat by Fritz<\/a> in the Laver Cup in San Francisco this month, his first loss to the American in four career meetings.<\/p>\n “He’s been playing great tennis lately,” said Alcaraz.<\/p>\n “At the Laver Cup against me, against Alexander Zverev<\/a> and in this tournament … he’s feeling great and really comfortable on the court, so I’ll try to change a few things. Obviously the speed of the court and everything is different.<\/p>\n “It’s going to be another challenge for me but I’m excited about it and I will try to take the good things I’ve done today and the good things I did in San Francisco … it’s going to be an interesting match and I’m excited about playing it.”<\/p>\n The six-times Grand Slam champion wasted four chances to break Ruud early and let out screams of frustration when his Norwegian opponent closed in on the first set with sublime shot-making from the back of the court and at the net.<\/p>\n Alcaraz starts second set with all guns blazing<\/p>\n Having dropped the first set, Alcaraz came out all guns blazing in the next and levelled the scores with a huge ace before turning on the style to break for a 3-2 lead in the decider and secure the win.<\/p>\n “I had a lot of chances in the first set,” said Alcaraz.<\/p>\n “It was really close. It’s just about the tennis. A match can change on small details so I tried to be there, 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.<\/p>\n “That was the key to the turnaround.”<\/p>\n American Fritz earlier saw off compatriot Jenson Brooksby<\/a> with a 6-3 6-3<\/a> victory after flawless serving in tough moments to reach his third final of the season after claiming grasscourt titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.<\/p>\n “I served insanely well today,” said 2022 champion Fritz, who sent down 13 aces.<\/p>\n “A high percentage of first serves … hit a lot of lines. It felt like any game I didn’t hit three aces, he was putting a ton of pressure on me, outplaying me from the baseline most of the match.<\/p>\n “I was just able to hang in it with my serve and apply the scoreboard pressure and then capitalise on the mistakes that he made, play a couple of good points and get a break in both the sets but, really, my serve got me through it.”<\/p>\n