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Carlos Alcaraz’s dominance on the ATP Tour in 2025 continued with the Spaniard triumphing at the Japan Open on his tournament debut, defeating former champion Taylor Fritz in the final.

It was a dramatic week of action inside Tokyo’s Ariake Coliseum, with plenty of big names out early on, though it was the top two seeds that ultimately made the final — and who will be well-rewarded for their efforts.

With the dust beginning to settle on action at the ATP 500 event, we look at what prize money and ranking points Alcaraz, Fritz and the tournament’s other biggest names all received for their efforts inside the Japanese capital.

What prize money was won?

For lifting the title in Tokyo, Alcaraz takes home an impressive $416,365 in winnings, a notable increase on the $340,010 awarded to 2024 champion Arthur Fils twelve months ago.

Runner-up Fritz is also well-rewarded for his efforts, receiving $224,035 in prize money after a strong week.

Fourth seed Casper Ruud, who fell to Alcaraz, and Jenson Brooksby, who was beaten by Fritz, also received strong money for reaching the last four, the Norwegian and American both earning $119,395.

2024 semi-finalist and third seed Holger Rune was beaten by a resurgent Brooksby on Sunday, the Dane falling in at the quarter-final stage.

Rune and fellow beaten quarter-finalists Brandon Nakashima, Sebastian Korda, and Aleksandar Vukic all take home $61,000.

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Players who reached round two earn themselves $32,560, while players who were beaten in round one will receive $17,365 in earnings.

Among the players who fell in round one are fifth seed Tomas Machac, sixth seed and 2024 finalist Ugo Humbert, seventh seed Denis Shapovalov, and eighth seed Frances Tiafoe.

Champion: $416,365
Runner-up: $224,035
Semi-finalists: $119,395
Quarter-finalists: $61,000
Round 2: $32,560
Round 1: $17,365

What ranking points were won?

For lifting the title, Alcaraz earns an impressive 500 ATP Ranking points.

That means the Spaniard matches the 500 points that he secured for triumphing at the China Open in 2024, and will remain on 11,540 points in the ATP Rankings.

Meanwhile, for their runner-up finish, Fritz takes home 330 points from Tokyo.

His run pushes him up to 4,995 points in the ATP Rankings, and he will move back above Novak Djokovic to world No 4 when the rankings update.

For reaching the last four of the tournament, beaten semi-finalists Ruud and Brooksby take home 200 ranking points.

Ruud is set to stay at 12th in the ATP Rankings, but his hopes of ATP Finals qualification have been boosted, with the Norwegian up two places to 11th in the race.

After his hugely impressive run, Brooskby is currently projected to rise a staggering 29 places to world No 57 when the ATP Rankings update.

Beaten quarter-finalists Rune, Nakashima, Korda and Vukic all earn 100 ranking points, with third seed Rune dropping 100 points after reaching the last four in 2024.

Players who fell in the second round take home 50 ranking points, while players beaten in the opening round — including Machac, Humbert, Shapovalov, and Tiafoe — are left with zero ranking points for the tournament.

Champion: 500 points
Runner-up: 330 points
Semi-finalists: 200 points
Quarter-finalists: 100 points
Round 2: 50 points
Round 1: 0 points

Read Next: Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner again; Novak Djokovic to star – our Shanghai Masters predictions

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Carlos Alcaraz was not happy with the umpire during his 2025 Japan Open final showdown with Taylor Fritz as he declared “you haven’t played tennis in your life” to the official.

The incident came in the opening set when chair umpire Fergus Murphy gave Alcaraz a time violation as the six-time Grand Slam champion prepared to serve.

Alcaraz could not understand why Murphy started the shot clock so swiftly after a point where he finished at the net as he argued he needed more time to return to the back of the court to ask for the balls to serve.

The world No 1 said: “Do you think this is normal? Is this normal or not? I’m asking a question, is it normal or not?

“I finish a point at the net, I’m a little bit tired about the point, and I can’t go to ask for the balls. Do you think this is normal or not?

“Tu trouves normal que je termine un point au filet et que je n’aie même pas le temps d’aller chercher les balles pour servir ? On voit que tu n’as jamais joué au tennis de ta vie”

Alcaraz en colère contre l’arbitre et le chrono entre les servicespic.twitter.com/5RizdBd4Y0

— TennisTemple (@tennistemple) September 30, 2025

“You haven’t played tennis in your life, come on. You never played tennis in your life. You never played tennis because you said this is normal.”

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Alcaraz, who was competing in his ninth consecutive final, went on to prevail 6-4, 6-4 against world No 5 Fritz to secure his maiden Japan Open title in his debut at the Tokyo ATP 500 event.

With his triumph, Alcaraz avenged his defeat to Fritz at the Laver Cup earlier this month and improved his head-to-head record against the American to 4-1 (4-0 excluding Laver Cup).

A rare show of frustration for Alcaraz

It is seldom that Alcaraz argues with officials, although he did have a dispute with chair umpire Greg Allensworth at the Cincinnati Open in August.

That incident was sparked by Alcaraz being asked to cover the Evian logo on his water bottle when Allensworth told him mid-match that sponsor logos must be covered.

Alcaraz, who is sponsored by Evian, refused to cover the logo.

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz gets ‘miracle’ verdict as he is compared to Rafael Nadal by Spanish legend

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Renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou has proclaimed that something “broke” the motivation of Novak Djokovic and suggested that the end of the Serbian’s career could be close.

Djokovic is the current world No 4, but he is widely considered to still be the third best player on the ATP Tour after the dominant Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

The 38-year-old fell at the semi-final stage at all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2025. He won his 24th and most recent major at the 2023 US Open.

Since Djokovic won the ATP Finals at the end of an outstanding 2023 campaign, he has won only two tournaments: the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2025 Geneva Open (his 100th singles title).

In a video posted on his Instagram account, Mouratoglou declared that Djokovic is “not here anymore.”

“He (Djokovic) achieved everything,” said the Frenchman, who has coached Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“So I feel that something broke the motivation, the drive that made him as the greatest of all time.

“He’s not here anymore. How long is he going to stay in that position? I don’t think long.

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“I think he still likes to be there because I think he probably wants to find a great connection with the fans, which he starts to have.

“It was difficult while Rafa and Roger were at the top, because they had such a strong connection that it was depriving him from having that position and that connection.

“Definitely the drive doesn’t look like what it was before. It’s a different drive, but it’s not a drive that brings the results that he could have before, and it makes sense, and I understand, but he’s not producing the results he used to have.”

Mouratoglou recently claimed that Djokovic’s loss of belief is a bigger problem than his aging body.

“The real issue is not whether his body is weaker, but that he seems to believe it. And that belief is new,” said Mouratoglou.

“Earlier in his career, when he was behind Federer and Nadal, he always said: “I will find a way, I will be better.”

“Now, he says the door is closed. That shift is massive. Novak’s greatest strength was his unbreakable belief. If that inner conviction is gone, the body follows.”

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The inevitability of defeat appeared to take the wind out of Emma Raducanu’s sails long before Jessica Pegula inflicted the finishing blows to what was a brutal defeat at the China Open, but the British No 1 needs to find the silver linings in this latest near miss.

For a second week in a row, Raducanu failed to convert three match points in a high-quality second set tie-break before collapsing in alarming fashion in the decisive set to lose 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-0.

This was almost the same script as her match against Barbora Krejcikova in Seoul last week, as she missed out on three match points before surrendering in disappointing fashion in the third set and it is a pattern that needs to be halted quickly.

As is often the case with a Raducanu match, there are several layers that need to be unpicked… with positive and some negative takeaways fused in a frustrating package.

Let’s start with the positives and there were so many in a performance that may have been one of Raducanu’s best for the first two sets.

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The baseline exchanges she shared with Pegula were laced with quality, as the pair traded blows in extended baseline rallies that confirmed the Brit is playing at a level to compete with top 10 rivals.

Raducanu came out on top in more than her fair share of the lengthy exchanges and the biggest improvement in her game was her punchy serve.

He Spanish coach Francisco Roig has clearly been working on her service motion and it appeared that she was also experimenting with racket tensions, as she changed rackets for serving and returning games in the second set.

Her eagerness to attack Pegula’s second serve was in evident on the first of her match points, as she crunched a backhand that needed a stunning shot from Pegula to keep her in the match.

In truth, Raducanu could not have done too much more in a top quality tie-break, but she will need to reflect on what came after those match points slipped away and the third set got underway.

As was the case in the Krejcikova match, Raducanu’s energy levels dropped and after losing the pace and potency on her serve, a rock solid Pegula took advantage to run away with the third set and seal her place in the last-16 in Beijing.

Raducanu looked a little shell-shocked as she left the court, but the 22-year-old should appreciate that the last couple of defeats on her record are, in fact, steps forward in her story alongside coach Roig.

The 2021 US Open champion has been blasted off court by some top 10 players in recent months, but she had her chances to beat both Krejcikova and Pegula and she should head to Wuhan for next week’s WTA 1000 event with an upbeat mindset.

There is no doubt that the pain of this defeat will leave her a little dazed, but she has to believe the steps she has made on her serve and with her ball striking from the back of the court will soon turn these near misses into victories.

Raducanu has a stated aim of finishing inside the top 32 of the WTA Rankings heading into the first Grand Slam of 2026 at the Australian Open in January.

Much of her performance against Pegula suggested she is playing tennis at a level that could see her back in the top 10 of the rankings at some point next year, but she needs to convert positive performances into wins to make that a reality.

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It was not the easiest of semi-finals for Carlos Alcaraz, but the Spaniard had enough to fend off Casper Ruud and reach the final of the Japan Open on his tournament debut in Tokyo.

After three straight-set wins, and an early tournament injury scare, the world No 1 faced the toughest test of his run to date against fourth seed Ruud, though Alcaraz was able to overcome a slow start to battle his way to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Alcaraz will face second seed and world No 5 Taylor Fritz in an intriguing final, in what is now the ninth straight tournament that the Spaniard has progressed to the championship match.

Since losing his opening match at the Miami Open, Alcaraz has reached consecutive finals in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, Roland Garros, Queen’s, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, the US Open, and now in Tokyo.

It is staggering streak for Alcaraz, but where does it rank in ATP history?

Level with three greats

Thanks to reaching his ninth consecutive final, Alcaraz has now drawn level with three fellow tennis legends and former world No 1’s in the all-time standings: Rafael Nadal, Ilie Nastase and Jimmy Connors.

Nadal achieved this in 2013, reaching the final of the first nine finals tournaments he played that season – from the Chile Open to Roland Garros – before his run was snapped by a round-one defeat at Wimbledon.

Connors’ streak started at the end of 1973 and the beginning of 1974, reaching and winning the Australian Open final, before progressing to the final at eight further events before a semi-final loss in Washington.

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The season before Connors, Nastase reached nine straight finals from Washington to Queens, winning the French Open during that spell; his streak came to an end with a round of 16 loss at Wimbledon.

Who can better Alcaraz’s feat?

In the Open Era, only six men have bettered Alcaraz’s milestone by reaching 10+ consecutive finals on tour, and all of them are legends of the sport.

Ranking in sixth place is John McEnroe, who reached 11 straight finals across the peak of his powers in the 1983 and 1984 seasons.

In joint-fourth are tennis legends Bjorn Borg and Guillermo Vilas, who reached 13 straight finals in 1979-80 and 1977, respectively.

Then, in joint-second place, are Novak Djokovic (2015-16) and Roger Federer (2005-06), who both reached a staggering 17 consecutive finals at the very peak of their dominance.

However, both of them fell just shy of the Open Era record of Ivan Lendl, who reached 18 straight finals on the ATP Tour across 1981-1982.

Alcaraz’s run of nine straight finals is extraordinary, but he would have to double that to match the feat of eight-time Grand Slam champion Lendl.

Most Consecutive Finals reached (Men, Open Era)

1) Ivan Lendl — 18
=2) Novak Djokovic — 17
=2) Roger Federer — 17
=4) Bjorn Borg — 13
=4) Guillermo Vilas — 13
6) John McEnroe — 11
=7) Ilie Nastase — 9
=7) Jimmy Connors — 9
=7) Rafael Nadal — 9
=7) Carlos Alcaraz — 9

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The post How does Carlos Alcaraz’s 9 straight ATP finals compare to Djokovic, Nadal, Federer & all-time greats? appeared first on Tennis365.

Main draw action at the 2025 Shanghai Masters gets underway on Wednesday October 1, but who will lift the title at the biggest men’s tournament staged in Asia?

The Masters 1000 tournament at the Forest Sports City Arena features 96 main draw players, with the 32 seeds receiving a first round bye. The final will be played on October 12.

Here, we make our predictions for the Shanghai Masters.

First quarter

Projected QF: Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs Alex de Minaur (7)

Carlos Alcaraz has reached his ninth consecutive final at the Japan Open and he will aim to win a maiden title in Shanghai, where he is yet to progress beyond the quarter-finals.

The world No 1’s projected route to the quarter-finals is: 2R — Learner Tien/Miomir Kecmanovic, 3R — Cameron Norrie (30), 4R — Daniil Medvedev (16)/Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (18).

In the quarter-finals, he could face Alex de Minaur (7) or Karen Khachanov (9), with Stefanos Tsitsipas (24) and Brandon Nakashima (29) the other seeded players in the section. De Minaur’s recent form has been far more impressive than that of Khachanov.

Alcaraz is currently the man to beat in the men’s game, with the ankle issue that surfaced in his opening match in Tokyo the only slight concern.

Quarter-final prediction: Alcaraz d. de Minaur 

Second quarter

Projected QF: Alexander Zverev (3) vs Lorenzo Musetti (8)

Alexander Zverev suffered a third round exit at the US Open and lost both of his matches at the Laver Cup, but he has got back to winning ways in Beijing.

The world No 3’s projected path to the last eight is: 2R – Mariano Navone/Qualifier, 3R – Alex Michelsen (28), 4R – Jiri Lehecka (15)/Denis Shapovalov (23). Michelsen, Lehecka and Shapovalov could all be dangerous opponents for Zverev given his unconvincing form.

It has been a great month for Felix Auger-Aliassime, who reached the 2025 US Open semi-finals before getting married in Marrakech.

The No 12 seed may face 17th seed Jakub Mensik in the third round and Lorenzo Musetti in the last 16. This could be a good opportunity for the Canadian, who upset Zverev during his US Open run.

Quarter-final prediction: Auger-Aliassime d. Zverev

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Third quarter

Projected QF: Novak Djokovic (4) vs Ben Shelton (6)

Novak Djokovic, who is returning to action after his US Open semi-final run, has won a record four Shanghai titles and was a runner-up last year.

The 24-time major winner’s projected path to the quarter-finals is: 2R — Marin Cilic/Corentin Moutet, 3R — Frances Tiafoe (25), 4R — Andrey Rublev (13)/Flavio Cobolli (22).

Ben Shelton is playing for the first time since injury derailed his US Open campaign, and he could face Gabriel Diallo (31) in the third round and Casper Ruud (11) in the last 16.

A long-awaited rematch of Djokovic and Shelton’s spicy 2023 US Open semi-final would be intriguing. It is hard to look past the great Serbian here given his record at the event and questions over Shelton’s fitness.

Quarter-final prediction: Djokovic d. Shelton

Fourth quarter

Projected QF: Jannik Sinner (2) vs Taylor Fritz (5)

Jannik Sinner is the reigning champion in Shanghai and will arrive after a deep run at the China Open in Beijing.

The world No 2’s projected path to the quarter-finals is: 2R — Daniel Altmaier/Qualifier, 3R — Tallon Griekspoor (27), 4R — Alexander Bublik (14)/Tomas Machac (20).

Taylor Fritz is the favourite to meet Sinner in the last eight, but faces a tricky-looking draw: 2R – Fabian Marozsan/Stan Wawrinka, 3R — Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (32), 4R — Holger Rune (10).

Sinner holds a 4-1 record against Fritz and won the pair’s three most recent meetings — which were all in 2024 — in straight sets. The Italian’s record on hard courts since late-2023 is outstanding.

Quarter-final prediction: Sinner d. Fritz 

Semi-final and Final Predictions

Semi-finals:

Alcaraz d. Auger-Aliassime in 2 sets  

Sinner d. Djokovic in 2 sets 

Final:

Alcaraz d. Sinner in 3 sets

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The post Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner again; Novak Djokovic to star – our Shanghai Masters predictions appeared first on Tennis365.

Iga Swiatek is safely through to the fourth round of the China Open, and it is hard to see who will stop the world No 2 and top seed at the WTA 1000 event this week.

After setting several impressive milestones during her opening win over Yuan Yue on Saturday, the Pole was on court for just six games in her third-round match on Monday, with Camila Osorio retiring after the opening set of their encounter.

Victory for Swiatek powers her into a fourth-round contest against 16th seed Emma Navarro — an opponent she holds a 2-0 head-to-head against — and puts her in a strong position to continue a potential challenge to Aryna Sabalenka’s world No 1 ranking.

Here, we look at how close Swiatek can now get to challenging her greatest rival in Beijing this week.

Sabalenka’s status

Sabalenka has been ranked as the world No 1 since October last year, and still has a commanding lead as things stand.

However, the Belarusian will likely be affected by rules regarding WTA Ranking ‘mandatory’ events, and will drop 215 quarter-finalist points from last year’s China Open after her withdrawal from this year’s tournament.

Currently on 11,225 points, Sabalenka will drop to 11,010 points when the WTA Rankings officially drop post-tournament.

Heading into the China Open, Swiatek held 8,433 points.

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How much ground can Swiatek make up?

Having been provisionally suspended during the China Open last year, Swiatek has no points to defend at the tournament in 2025 — something that gave her a huge advantage from a rankings perspective.

The world No 2 cannot directly return to the top of the WTA Rankings with a strong run in Beijing, but has already begun to make some ground on Sabalenka after her opening two victories.

With 120 points to her name, thanks to reaching round four, Swiatek is already up to 8,533 points in the WTA Live Rankings.

That places her within 2,500 points of Sabalenka — still a significant gap — but Swiatek can make up significant ground, especially considering that the world No 1 has 1,000 points to defend as the Wuhan Open champion next week.

Should the Pole defeat Navarro in Wednesday’s fourth-round clash and reach the last eight, that would move her to 8,648 points, up 215 points in the WTA Rankings.

However, if she were to progress to the semi-final, she would move up to an impressive 8,823 points, and she would hit the 9,000-point milestone with a run to the final.

A runner-up finish would put Swiatek on 9,083 points, while a run to the title would place her on 9,433 points.

Those results would put the Pole within 2,000 points of Sabalenka in the WTA Rankings, something that would be significant heading into the Wuhan Open.

With Sabalenka defending 1,000 points and Swiatek defending no points, it would be mathematically possible for the six-time Grand Slam champion to regain the No 1 ranking at the event.

Swiatek’s China Open ranking point possibilities

Champion: 9,433 (+1,000)
Runner-up: 9,083 (+650)
Semi-final: 8,823 (+390)
Quarter-final: 8,648 (+215)
Round 4: 8,553 (+120)

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For parents hungry to get their children into professional tennis, joining academies can be an attractive prospect but one that will also hit your wallet.

The practice is nothing new with the likes of Novak Djokovic, the Williams sisters and Andy Murray also spending part of their youth at academies but for everyone that makes it, there are dozens of other players who never get close to the tour.

Here are some of the most renowned academies in the world and how much it costs to study the game there:

The Mouratoglou Tennis Academy – Biot, France

Patrick Mouratoglou is one of the most famous coaches in tennis and has his own academy in his home country, France.

Established in 1996, it was originally named after fellow coach Bob Brett who Mouratoglou learned his trade from but was renamed in 2002 and in 2016 it moved to Biot on the French Riviera, just 15 minutes away from Nice Airport.

One of the main selling points of the academy is the weather as they boast ‘320 days of sunshine a year’. The facility is also enormous with 12 hectares including 33 clay and hard courts as well as other sports like padel and an athletics track.

With 50,000 students having walked through the door, it has become one of the most well-known academies in the world, even setting up centres in China, Greece, Italy, Malaysia and the UAE but staying in this Riviera paradise will cost you.

A full academic year is around €38,000 with an additional €14,000-€25,000 for accommodation.

Total: €63,000

Former students: Holger Rune, Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Rafa Nadal Academy – Manacor, Spain

If you fancied getting coached by one of the best players ever to pick up a racket, well your dream came true in 2016 when Rafa Nadal opened his own academy.

Set up with his uncle Toni, the base is in Nadal’s hometown of Manacor and has 45 tennis courts. Of those, 23 are hard with the other 22 being clay.

As for the coaching, while Nadal will not be there every day, the website says a team has worked with the 22-time Grand Slam winner to develop a ‘unique training system’.

The academy leans heavily into technology and says that as the game is ‘moving towards a faster form of play’, players ‘must be prepared to make decisions very quickly.’

To do this, they focus on training the eyes then the mind then the legs and then the hands with the belief that this way is how you get the best tennis players.

Accommodation-wise, there is a bit of a uni vibe to some of the rooms but at least you get all your meals cooked for you.

To get all this, your parents will have to stump up €56,000.

Cost: €56,000

Former students: No notable ones as of yet but only opened in 2016

IMG Academy – Bradenton, Florida, United States

With 25.7 million Americans playing the sport, it is unsurprising that one of the biggest tennis academies in the world is in the United States.

The IMG Academy is in Bradenton, Florida and is an enormous base, stretching over 600 acres. It was set up in 1978 by Nick Bollettieri and is not solely for tennis with football, soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball and hockey programmes available for the students.

Tennis-wise, there are 62 courts (35 hard, 18 clay, and 9 indoor) and a dedicated ‘Tennis Center’ where coaches and players can analyse their game using technology.

The academy’s best year came in 1987 when 32 alumni were in the draw for Wimbledon. Given its history, it also has plenty of famous players to brag about including Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

But it comes at a cost with prices running from $51,100 to $53,300. With this you get tuition as well as tennis coaching but there are other fees to pay such as your US health insurance.

Cost: $53,300 (€45,545.65) + fees

Former students: Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova

Emilio Sánchez Academy – Barcelona, Spain

Nadal is not the only former pro to have an academy in Spain as Emilio Sanchez Vicario and Sergio Casal set up their own base in 1998.

The Emilio Sánchez Academy is right next to Barcelona airport and has 27 courts, varying between hard, clay and grass.

It also has some pretty impressive alumni, including Grigor Dimitrov and Juan Monaco while Andy Murray moved there when he was 15.

But using the same facilities as the Scot does not come cheap and the fees are around €50,000.

 

Cost: €50,000

Former students: Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov and Juan Monaco

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Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy – Villena, Alicante, Spain

Having the current men’s No.1 as one of your former students is an impressive accolade and currently that honour goes to the Ferrero Tennis Academy.

Based in south east Spain near the city of Villena, there are 12 clay courts, 13 hard courts (one of which is named after Alcaraz) and a grass court. It would not be Spain if there were not some padel courts too with eight on site.

Coaching wise, the academy does not have too many spots per year as they prefer to go for a ‘highly personalised training’ routine.

Total training time per week is 33-38 hours on the weekday with the weekends off for recovery and along with Alcaraz, the likes of David Ferrer and Pablo Carreño trained there.

The cost of training here is around €58,392 per year with accommodation included.

Cost: €58,392

Former students: Carlos Alcaraz, David Ferrer and Pablo Carreño

Swiss Tennis Academy – Bern, Switzerland

Considering his impact on the game, it is somewhat surprising that Roger Federer does not have his own academy but one is at least named after him.

The Swiss Tennis Academy is on Roger-Federer-Allee 1 and is led by Tom Simmen. It is not the biggest academy in the world, even describing itself as ‘small but nice’ but that size allows it to focus more on the students.

They state the goal is for the juniors to either represent their countries or gain scholarships for the ‘best American universities’ and it is one of the cheaper academies at €35,340.

Cost: €35,340

Former students: No notable ones

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Coco Gauff is the reigning champion at the China Open, and she has advanced to the last 16 at the 2025 event with two victories, but how has her serve performed so far?

The American star hit the most double faults among all WTA players in 2024 (430) and also leads the tour in this unwanted statistic so far this season. Gauff’s serve was particularly troublesome during events in Montreal and Cincinnati in July and August.

In the week before the US Open last month, Gauff made the big call to split with her coach Matt Daly, who helped her secure her second Grand Slam title at the French Open in June.

The world No 3 hired biomechanical expert Gavin MacMillan with the aim of solving her serving issues. MacMillan previously helped Aryna Sabalenka fix her own double faulting problems.

With MacMillan’s guidance, Gauff made a change to her service motion despite the short window before the start of the US Open. Gauff showed great resilience to reach the fourth round in New York amid struggles with her game before falling to a lopsided defeat to Naomi Osaka.

Gauff has admitted that she is treating her Beijing title defence “like a practice tournament” and that she is using this part of the calendar “as a pre-season.” She also confirmed MacMillan is not with her in China due to other commitments.

Gauff’s serve at the 2025 China Open

In her opening match in Beijing, Gauff earned a convincing 6-4, 6-0 win against 89th-ranked Kamilla Rakhimova.

The serving numbers were encouraging for Gauff as she landed 69% of her first serves and won 66% of her total service points (72% of points on her first serve and 53% on her second serve).

Gauff served four aces and committed five double faults, and she saved all 10 of the break points the 24-year-old Russian had on her serve in the match.

In her second match, Gauff was pushed much harder as she overcame world No 25 Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 47 minutes.

The American hit four aces, made 62% of her first serves and won a solid 66% of points behind her first delivery, but her second serve was a bigger issue.

Gauff won just 37% (14 of 38) of her second serve points as she hit nine double faults, and she was broken seven times having faced 10 break points.

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Two of Gauff’s three double faults in the first set came in the same game as Fernandez broke back for 4-4, but ultimately, it did not prove costly. In the second set, Gauff hit two double faults and won 40% of her second serve points as the 23-year-old Canadian levelled the match.

Despite being broken in her first two service games in the deciding set, Gauff broke Fernandez four straight times to establish a 5-2, double break lead.

Gauff’s five double faults and lowly 20% of second serve points won in the third set threatened to derail her as she was twice broken when serving for the match and pegged back to 5-5 before finally prevailing.

It is clear that Gauff’s serve is a work in progress and that it will take time for her to reap the rewards of the technical changes she is implementing.

In the short term, the second serve in particular seems to still be a concern, but it is encouraging that the double fault numbers have not been as high as they were prior to her work with MacMillan.

Gauff has again proven her mental toughness and showcased her ability to survive tough matches in which her serve is hampering her.

What did Gauff say after her win over Fernandez?

In her press conference after beating Fernandez, Gauff said: “I played Leylah earlier this year and I knew it was going to be a tougher match today just because I felt like she was playing some good tennis.

“She beat Maria [Sakkari], like, in a good score [in her previous match]. All the matches she won in DC. I knew she would approach this match differently. I had to adjust. But I’m happy to get through.

“Yeah, I mean, the conditions were so slow, which I feel like she does well with that because she likes to take the ball so early. So I felt like my heaviness wasn’t doing a lot with her, like, as the balls got older.

“I found when I had new balls, I would win like two or three games in a row. I think the toughest part was just dealing with the conditions and trying to feel like I could hit through her, but I couldn’t do that as well today as I felt like I did earlier this year.”

Asked what happened in the second set, Gauff said: “I mean, it was a back-and-forth set. I had chances I think in the 2-All or 3-2 game to break. I felt like I got a little bit too passive. Then that last game, couple doubles. I don’t even remember what happened.

“But she played well. I mean, I knew, like, how the first set went, it was kind of back and forth. A couple points don’t go your way and you lose the set. But yeah, she definitely played great tennis. I thought she was being aggressive, striking the ball pretty well. She wasn’t really giving me much free points either.

“Yeah, I think I wish I was more aggressive in some moments. I could tell she stepped up the aggressiveness in the second. I think in that 3-2 game on those break points I should have put the ball deeper and maybe tried to get her to open up the court.”

Gauff will face 15th seed Belinda Bencic in the last 16 in Beijing.

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Watching Carlos Alcaraz in full flight is a sight to behold for tennis fans, and the Spaniard treated the Japan Open crowd to that experience with his quarter-final display.

Alcaraz was at his devastating best as he saw off world No 33 Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-4 to progress to the semi-finals at the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo.

The world No 1 is making his debut in Japan, and there was concern over his fitness after he hurt his ankle during his opening round win over Sebastian Baez. He recovered, though, to down Zizou Bergs in the second round, and his latest performance suggests he has put the issue behind him.

Alcaraz was dominant on serve against Nakashima as he landed 67% of his first serves and lost just eight service points in total (winning 83% on first serve and 80% on second serve).

Nakashima, who possesses an impressive serve, landed 72% of his first serves, but he was still broken three times and faced seven break points in total.

Alcaraz won 64 of the 109 total points played and won 39 of these points with clean winners — an astonishing tally in a two-set match. Just one of these winners was an ace, with Alcaraz blasting 25 forehand winners and 12 backhand winners.

Despite his aggression, the six-time Grand Slam champion committed only 18 unforced errors. He won 34 of the 53 points played at the baseline and 11 of the 14 points in which he came to the net.

The ATP Tour’s Tennis Insights data analytics model gave Alcaraz’s forehand and backhand staggering ratings of 9.7 and 9.5 out of 10 respectively.

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After Nakashima saved three match points while serving at 3-5 in the second set, Alcaraz closed out the contest in staggering fashion on his own serve.

Serving at 5-4, Alcaraz struck four sublime winners in a row to hold at love: a jaw-dropping backhand flick on the stretch, a blistering forehand cross-court, a delicate backhand drop volley and a massive forehand inside-in winner.

The perfect game to close a match @carlosalcaraz #kinoshitajotennis pic.twitter.com/Y6CNBzBll1

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) September 28, 2025

On the level he produced in the final game, Alcaraz said: “I always say that closing the match is always difficult, I think even tougher when you face match ball when I was returning, so losing that game, I thought that it was going to be really difficult.

“But I just tried to maintain my focus, I tried to play some great points and tennis in the last game and I haven’t played such a last game like this, so I’m really happy about it.”

Former British No 1 Barry Cowan, who commentated on the match for Tennis TV, was in awe of Alcaraz’s display.

“Alcaraz put on a real show tonight, brilliant,” said Cowan.

“That was worthy of the world No 1, that performance tonight. 39 winners and only one ace, I’m not sure, actually, whether I’ve seen those numbers before in a two-set match.

“I mean, the forehands were outrageous, the pace. Also the variety as well, you think of some of the beautiful, skilful shots at the net, a couple of the good returns. Only 18 unforced errors.

“Utterly dominant on serve, just dropped five points on first serve, three points on second serve.

“Overall, that felt like a real privilege to watch that from Alcaraz tonight. 80 minutes of spellbinding tennis.”

Alcaraz will take on world No 12 Casper Ruud in the last four in Tokyo.

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