Match Report
Carlos Alcaraz didn’t feel comfortable in the conditions during his first match in Tokyo, but he still got the job done. Other seeds were not so lucky.
Chris OddoOctober 1, 20263 minute read
Carlos Alcaraz avoided the upset as he pushed past American Alex Michelsen in three sets to open his title defense at the Japan Open on Thursday night, but not many other seeded players passed the first hurdle in Tokyo.
The top eight seeds went 3-5 overall in the first round, leaving the Spaniard as the only seeded player remaining in the top half after one round.
Third-seeded Taylor Fritz, sixth-seeded Casper Ruud and seventh-seeded Tommy Paul each felt the post US Open blues in Japan. Fritz was taken out by the always tough Jaume Munar, 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3, while Luciano Darderi moved past Ruud 7-6(3), 6-3. A day earlier Alejander Tabilo made light work of Paul, 6-1, 6-2.
In the lower half Brandon Nakashima, seeded No.5, was taken out by Ugo Humbert, 6-3, 6-2, while Rafael Jodar, the fourth seed, was bounced by Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, 6-1, 6-3.
Eighth-seeded Valentin Vacherot topped Alexander Blockx, 7-6(2), 7-6(4). He joins Frances Tiafoe, who defeated Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-4, as one of two seeded players in the round of 16 in the lower half.
It should be noted that World No.9 Arthur Fils isn’t seeded because he entered the draw as a qualifier. Fils, 22, is into the second round as well.
For a while it looked like Alcaraz might not make it either. He had to scramble to make it through the first set against Michelsen, then squandered a 4-2 lead in the middle set which forced a decider.
Alcaraz turned on the charm from there, racing out to a 5-0 lead and finishing off Michelsen to improve to 28-4 on the season.
“It was a little bit frustrating, not being able to play my game, my style, and play aggressive,” the seven-time major champion said on court after the win. “It was quite difficult but I’m just really happy to accept and understand how I had to play, and to get the win at the end.”
Alcaraz, bidding to become the first man to defend the Tokyo title since Pete Sampras in 1994, will face Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in the second round. The only other man to defend the Tokyo title was Stefan Edberg in 1991.
Alcaraz says he’s looking forward to settling into a rhythm now that he has the first match under his belt.
“I just tried to do my best,” Alcaraz said. “I didn’t feel my best today. I didn’t feel the ball the way that I wanted to. Because it’s the same. The guys who played the Laver Cup, coming here, I’m going to say, quite late. And the days we were here, it was raining. We had to practice on indoor courts.
“And coming here today with a lot of humidity, hot — it’s totally different conditions, which was really difficult to play and to deal with everything today. So I’m just really, really happy that I did my best, that I just played good tennis — good tennis enough to get the win. And I’m just giving myself more and more days to get used to the conditions here.”
Here’s how the round of 16 shapes up in Tokyo:
Carlos Alcaraz [1] vs. Matteo Arnaldi
Denis Shapovalov vs. Alejandro Tabilo
Jaume Munar vs. Jaime Faria [LL]
Kyrian Jacquet vs. Luciano Darderi
Ugo Humbert vs. Jiri Lehecka
Matteo Berrettini vs. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo [Q]
Valentin Vacherot [8] vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas [Q]
Arthur Fils [Q] vs. Frances Tiafoe [2]
AloJapan.com