Tennis News

Alcaraz on Laver Cup nerves: ‘I’m a good actor’

Carlos Alcaraz has developed a winning habit when competing on the biggest stages in the early years of his standout career.

The 21-year-old holds a perfect 4-0 record in major finals and earned the vital win for Team Europe against Team World in the Laver Cup on Sunday night to seal victory for Bjorn Borg’s side. The Spaniard showed little sign of nerves in his straight-sets win against Taylor Fritz in Berlin, but revealed that isn’t always the case inside his head.

“That means I’m a pretty good actor,” Alcaraz said after teammate Grigor Dimitrov felt the Spaniard showed little tension on court. “I was nervous, I’m not going to lie. After Sascha’s match, he did a really good job. It was time for me to do my job. I had to win. After that comeback, I had to win.

“I had nerves, I was a little bit nervous. I tried not to show Taylor that I was nervous, but I think I played one of my best matches so far. Tried to be as match-calm as I can and hit it as good as I can.”

Alcaraz was making his Laver Cup debut and revealed that he felt a different kind of pressure during the team event to what he is used to when he competes for trophies alone on Tour.

“It was a different feeling. Obviously having them [Team Europe] supporting me behind me, it is different,” said 15-time tour-level titlist Alcaraz. “They try to just stay there and show me good energy all the time that makes me feel really comfortable on court and trying to pull out all the nerves and play good tennis.”

Captain Borg was leading Team Europe for the seventh and final time, with Yannick Noah set to replace the Swede next year. Borg led Team Europe to Laver Cup glory in five of the seven editions he captained and is pleased with how this year’s event went.

“A good team, good spirit. We have been having a good week together,” Borg said. “If we started this Sunday in the morning, I think we had problems, but all these guys came through. It’s unbelievable. I’m so happy. I’m very happy because it’s my last year Laver Cup, and for me to have this team, it’s beautiful.”

Team Europe trailed Team World heading into the final day of action but won three of the four rubbers on Sunday to earn a 13-11 victory.

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Tokyo Draw: Fritz meets Fils, Turin hopefuls learn fates

Top seed Taylor Fritz will face #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils in a blockbuster first-round round match at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, where several stars will aim for deep runs to boost their Nitto ATP Finals hopes.

The American is a former champion at the ATP 500 in Tokyo, lifting the trophy in 2022. The 26-year-old, who advanced to the final at the US Open earlier this month, arrives in Tokyo fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

If Fritz overcomes Fils, he could play former Top 10 star Matteo Berrettini in the second round. The Italian, who has won three tour-level titles this year, will face a qualifier in his first match following Monday’s draw.

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Second seed Hubert Hurkacz, third seed Casper Ruud, fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and fifth seed Tommy Paul are all in Nitto ATP Finals contention and take to court in Tokyo.

Hurkacz will aim to record his first match win in Tokyo on his third attempt when he meets Marcos Giron in the first round and could play US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper in the second round. The British lefty, currently at a career-high No. 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings, starts against a qualifier.

Casper Ruud, who is sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, faces Jordan Thompson, with sixth seed Holger Rune a potential quarter-final opponent. Ruud is in the same half as Fritz. In the bottom half of the draw, Stefanos Tsitsipas begins against a qualifier and is seeded to play Paul in the last eight. Paul takes on Matteo Arnaldi in the first round.

Home favourite Kei Nishikori is a two-time Tokyo champion. The Japanese wild card plays former World No. 3 Marin Cilic in the first round. Nishikori leads the Croatian 9-6 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with their previous meeting coming at the US Open in 2018.

Seventh seed Frances Tiafoe plays former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion Brandon Nakashima in the first round, while defending champion Ben Shelton takes on American Reilly Opelka. Japanese wild card Yoshihito Nishioka faces Felix Auger-Aliassime, and last year’s semi-finalist Shintaro Mochizuki plays Ugo Humbert.

The hard-court event starts on Wednesday.

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