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.
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(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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