Carlos Alcaraz storms into Japan Open semifinals with win over Nakashima

Carlos Alcaraz’s first trip to Tokyo is shaping up like another chapter in his remarkable 2025 season.

The World No. 1 eased past American Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-4 Sunday at the Japan Open to book his place in the semifinals and set up a showdown with Norway’s Casper Ruud in the process.

Alcaraz needed just 86 minutes in the Ariake Coliseum, where he combined a powerful serving performance with flashes of trademark brilliance from the baseline.

The Spaniard cracked 25 forehand winners alone and produced a sparkling closing sequence after briefly faltering while trying to serve out the match. In short, it was vintage Carlos Alcaraz.

Having let three match points slip away at 5-3 in the second set, the 22-year-old responded by reeling off four winners on the trot in the next game to seal his 65th victory of the season — equaling his career-best tally from 2023. The win also helped him mark his ninth consecutive semifinal appearance on the tour.

“It’s great to go through, to play another semifinal,” said Alcaraz in his post-match interview. “It’s special because it’s the first time I am playing here in Japan and here in Tokyo, so to reach the semi-finals in my first appearance is something great.”

Alcaraz admitted that he had to reset mentally after missing his initial chances.

“I always say that closing a match is difficult. Even tougher when you had match points, like I did when I was returning. Losing that game, I thought it was going to be really difficult, but I just tried to maintain my focus and play some great points in the last game.”

His next test now comes against Ruud — the World No. 12 — who was clinical earlier in the day when he raced past Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-2 in under an hour.

Alcaraz leads their head-to-head record 4-1, with the highlight win coming at the 2022 US Open final that Alacaraz won in four sets. Ruud, however, won their most-recent meeting at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals.