By Field Level Media
Oct 03 (Field Level Media) – Top-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz fought off four set points in the opener Saturday before rolling past Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi to reach the Japan Open Tennis Championship quarterfinals in Tokyo.
Alcaraz completed the 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory in one hour and 46 minutes. He trailed 6-2 in the tiebreaker before winning six straight points, then carried the momentum into the second set by winning the first five games.
Alcaraz’s quarterfinal opponent will be Canadian Denis Shapovalov, a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 winner against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. Czech Jiri Lehecka also advanced in three sets against Frenchman Ugo Humbert and will take on Paraguayan qualifier Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, who saved all three break points in a 7-6 (6), 6-1 win over Italian Matteo Berrettini.
The other quarterfinal matchups are France’s Kyrian Jacquet vs. Spain’s Jaume Munar, and No. 8 Valentin Vacherot of Monaco vs. France’s Arthur Fils.
China Open
No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany moved into the quarterfinals in Beijing with a 6-0, 6-3 victory in 55 minutes against Chinese hopeful Juncheng Shang.
Zverev struck nine aces, never faced a break point and converted four of his five break chances to set up a showdown with sixth-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic. Djokovic is a six-time champion with a perfect 31-0 record in this tournament.
Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over eighth- seeded Czech Jakub Mensik. Up next is No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who had 10 aces in a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
No. 5 Alex de Minaur of Australia and Russia’s Andrey Rublev will meet in the quarterfinals after posting three-set triumphs. Rublev outlasted compatriot Roman Safiullin 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, and de Minaur rallied past Frenchman Quentin Halys 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 in two hours and 47 minutes.
(–Field Level Media)
