The triumph was far from straightforward, however. Days earlier, Alcaraz looked in danger of an early exit following an injury scare in his opening match against Sebastián Báez. After a medical timeout and heavy strapping, the world no. 1 managed to pull together five wins across six days of the tournament.
“I’m really happy with the level that I played and with everything,” Alcaraz said afterwards. “Starting the week not really good with the ankle, and the way that I came back from that and played a great tournament, great matches.”
His victory also carried a personal edge: Fritz had beaten him at the Laver Cup the previous week. In Tokyo, however, Alcaraz flipped the script, pressuring the American with relentless depth and pace across two sets. Fritz, hampered by thigh issues and requiring multiple medical timeouts, could not match Alcaraz across the baseline rallies.
The win is another marker in what Alcaraz himself has described as “without a doubt” his best season yet. The 22 year-old appears to going from strength-to-strength as the 2025 ATP Tour comes to an end, with seven singles titles under his belt and his victory in Tokyo marking his sixth Grand Slam title.
Yet this dominance has come at a cost. Within hours of his Tokyo triumph, Alcaraz announced his withdrawal from the upcoming Shanghai Masters. By skipping Shanghai, Alcaraz surrenders a chance to collect crucial ranking points — opening the door for Jannik Sinner, his closest rival, to edge ahead in the race for the year-end No. 1.
For now, though, Alcaraz departs Japan with silverware in hand and his status as the sport’s brightest young star further cemented.