Spanish world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz won his eighth title this season by defeating American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Japan Open tennis tournament (500 points) on Tuesday.

The young Spanish star had suffered an ankle injury this week in Tokyo but remained clearly superior to his opponents, including fifth-ranked Fritz.

Alcaraz, who recently won the US Open, delivered another stunning performance marked by strength and agility to claim his first title at this event.

This was Alcaraz’s ninth consecutive final and his tenth overall this season, winning eight titles and 24 in total in his career.

Alcaraz became the first player to reach 10 finals in a single year since his compatriot Rafael Nadal did so in 2017.

He also avenged his first loss to Fritz two weeks ago at the Laver Cup.

Alcaraz missed several break points against Fritz in the first set before breaking serve in the ninth game and closing the set on his own serve in the next game.

He continued his dominance in the second set by breaking Fritz’s serve to lead 4-1, punishing Fritz’s costly errors.

Fritz broke Alcaraz’s serve for the first time in the match but it did not change the course of the match, which Alcaraz quickly sealed in the following game.

Fritz missed the chance to win his third title this season after previously winning in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.

The American had won the Japan Open title in 2022.

Both players now turn their attention to the Shanghai Masters starting this week.