Frustrated Alcaraz survives Ruud scare to reach final

World number one Carlos Alcaraz will face Taylor Fritz in the Japan Open final after coming from behind to beat Casper Ruud in Tokyo.

The Spaniard dropped the opening set - the first he has dropped so far in the tournament - but recovered to beat the Dane 3-6 6-3 6-4.

It was Alcaraz's 66th win of the season and he is the fourth male player in history after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to reach nine successive ATP-level finals.

Despite his victory, the six-time Grand Slam winner was angry about his performance in the opening set.

"I had a lot of chances in the first set," said Alcaraz.

"I had four break points if I'm not wrong. It's just about details, so I just tried to be more positive than the first set.

"I was a little bit mad with myself, so I just tried to play with joy again, putting a lot of positive thoughts in my mind."

After committing 15 unforced errors in the first set, Alcaraz won 20 of 24 points on his serve in the second as he took charge of the match.

There was little evidence that the six-time Grand Slam winner was struggling with an ankle problem, which has been troubling him since his tournament opener against Sebastian Baez.

Second seed Fritz, who defeated Alcaraz in the Laver Cup last week, beat compatriot Jenson Brooksby 6-4 6-3 in the other semi-final.

"I know he's playing great tennis lately," Alcaraz said of Fritz.

"It's another challenge for me and I'm looking forward to it."

The American hit 13 aces as he reached his first hard-court final of the year.

"I served insanely well," said Fritz.

"High percentage first serves and spots too. It felt like any game that I didn't hit three aces, he was really outplaying me from the baseline.

"My serve got me through it."