Japan Open: Carlos Alcaraz powers into semis, Holger Rune crashes out

TOKYO: World number one Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the semifinals of the Japan Open on Sunday with a commanding 6-2, 6-4 win over American Brandon Nakashima, while Danish third seed Holger Rune was sent packing by Jenson Brooksby.

Alcaraz, who overcame an injury scare in his straight-sets win over Argentine Sebastian Baez in Thursday’s opener, showed scintillating form to dispatch Nakashima for his 65th win of the season, thumping 39 winners in the one-hour 20-minute contest.

The 22-year-old Spaniard, fresh from reclaiming top spot in the world rankings after clinching his sixth Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open earlier this month, next faces Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud.

Earlier, Ruud blazed past Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic with a clinical 6-3, 6-2 win. The biggest upset of the day came in Rune’s 6-3, 6-3 loss to American Brooksby, ranked 86th in the world.

Wimbledon semifinalist Taylor Fritz overcame a second-set blip to beat Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 in an all-American clash. Second seed Fritz, who is set to climb to fourth in the ATP rankings on Monday, overtaking Novak Djokovic, will take on Brooksby in the semis. Agencies

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