Carlos Alcaraz will be back on the court in Tokyo when he goes for a quarterfinal spot against Zizou Bergs on Saturday. The second-round schedule also includes a showdown between Luciano Darderi and Jenson Brooksby.
(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. Zizou Bergs
Alcaraz almost looked down and out in the Japan Open first round when he sprained his ankle against Sebastian Baez, but the top-ranked Spaniard recovered to prevail 6-4, 6-2. With a day off in between matches, he presumably should be good to go for his next match against Bergs. Alcaraz heads into it with an amazing 48-3 record in his last 51 matches, a stretch that includes two Grand Slams titles–the French Open and U.S. Open.
Bergs has cooled off in a big way since finishing runner-up on the grass courts of ‘s-Hertogenbosch at the beginning of the summer. The 45th-ranked Belgian was a horrendous 3-11 in his last 14 matches prior to arriving in Tokyo, where he battled past a fatigued Alejandro Tabilo 1-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4) on Thursday. Unless Alcaraz is way less than 100 percent, this should be complete dominance in the No. 1 seed’s favor.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
(PR) Jenson Brooksby vs. Luciano Darderi
Darderi and Brooksby will also be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Saturday. To say that Darderi has been busy since Wimbledon would be an understatement. The 30th-ranked Italian captured back-to-back clay-court titles in Bastad and Umag, reached round three of the U.S. Open, and then won a clay-court Challenger event in Genoa. Darderi kicked off his Tokyo campaign with a 7-6(9), 6-3 victory over Yoshihito Nishioka in which both guys were cramping and each one collapsed right after match point.
Brooksby is also in good form. The 86th-ranked American advanced two rounds at the Cincinnati Masters and played two five-setters at Flushing Meadows–defeating Aleksandar Vukic before falling to Flavio Cobolli in a super-tiebreaker. Brooksby opened in Tokyo with a 7-6(4), 6-3 defeat of Ugo Humbert on Thursday. Even if Darderi is 100 percent, Brooksby should have the edge on a hard court.
Pick: Brooksby in 2
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