While both players had their fair share of difficulties getting to this stage, the final of the ATP 500 in Tokyo will be, as expected at the beginning of the tournament, contested by the top two seeds: Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz. It’s arguably the best final that the tournament and the fans could possibly ask for, with World #1 and recent US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz taking on the 2022 champion Taylor Fritz for all the marbles.
ATP Tokyo Final Prediction
Carlos Alcaraz vs Taylor Fritz
Head-to-head: Alcaraz 3-1 Fritz
Both players had some issues to get to this stage, with Fritz seriously facing elimination against Sebastian Korda and especially Gabriel Diallo, while Alcaraz had a very difficult semifinal against Casper Ruud. In the end, however, normality prevailed, and the top two seeds will be facing each other for the title. It will be the third time that the pair face off this year, with Alcaraz winning a hard fought four-setter in the Wimbledon semifinals and Fritz winning with relative ease last week in the Laver Cup to get his first ever win in this matchup.
That said, the Laver Cup is a very specific event and beating Alcaraz in a regular tour event will be a much tougher task for Fritz. The Spaniard has been almost unstoppable since April, and his game is so strong and complete and that it feels like you need to pull a perfect performance to take him down; Casper Ruud played a fantastic semifinal but it was only enough to take a set. Fritz on paper has the serve and power to pull off an even better performance, but if Alcaraz keeps up his level he really needs to be firing on all cylinders to have any chance of beating the World #1 and winning this tournament for a second time.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 3
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