World No. 3 and top seed Carlos Alcaraz secured a place in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 hardcourt tournament in Tokyo, Japan. The 23-year-old Spaniard defeated world No. 37 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 7-6(6), 6-1 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes.
This was the third professional meeting between the two and Alcaraz's third consecutive victory, with all three of their meetings having started on hardcourts.
The key to the entire match came in the first half. The Italian Arnaldi put up a strong fight and reached a tiebreak, in which he led unchallenged with 6:2 points, securing four consecutive set points. At this critical moment, Alcaraz showed exceptional composure, winning six consecutive points and stealing the set with 8:6.
The psychological breakthrough was complete and in the second part the Spanish star dominated the court completely, closing the match with a decisive 6:1.
For a place in the semifinals, Carlos Alcaraz will face the Canadian canon Denis Shapovalov. In the round of 16, Shapovalov prevailed over the 31st in the world Alejandro Tabillo (Chile) with 7:5, 3:6, 6:4 after a three-set battle that lasted 2 hours and 13 minutes.