Carlos Alcaraz says 2025 is his "best season so far without a doubt" after winning in Tokyo

Carlos Alcaraz’s title run in Tokyo this week wasn’t the most important of his eight tournament wins this season.

It wasn’t a major, or a Masters 1000, and, for once, he didn’t have to beat his arch-rival Jannik Sinner to do it. Yet his performance may have been the most representative of how he has improved in 2025, and how he may continue to raise his own ceiling on all surfaces in the years to come.

Alcaraz has never been anything less than a complete player. He has every shot in the book, as well as a few he has written himself. But as of this spring, there were still a couple of imperfections. (1) His serve, while solid, wasn’t a bailout weapon, in the way that Sinner had made his; and (2) Alcaraz was prone to sudden free falls in form that often cost him a set, and occasionally a match that he seemed sure to win.

Starting in the clay season in April, though, he began to shore up both of those vulnerabilities. He hit his targets, and found the corners, more often with his serve. He smoothed out the old peaks and valleys in his level. He began to win with the type of consistency that many of us had expected from him for a few years now. By the US Open, Alcaraz was a model of efficiency: He won his second title in New York, and his first hard-court Slam in three years, while dropping just one set. He looked as comfortable on a quick hard surface as he always has on slow red clay.

All of that was true again, and maybe a little bit more so, in Tokyo. Alcaraz played five matches and again dropped just one set. He was decisive, looking to attack from the first ball in a rally. He fired his forehand freely and sent dozens of blistering winners past his helpless opponents. He charged the net on second-serve returns, and didn’t hesitate to go for his drop shot at the most crucial times. He hit penetrating backhands that set up his forehand.

He even came up with a jaw-dropper that we hadn’t seen from him before, a backhand crosscourt flick, at a severe angle, that came dangerously close to breaking Brandon Nakashima’s ankles. (If you have TC Plus, I recommend “The Match in 15 Minutes” version of that quarterfinal; it’s one pulverized ball after another from the Spaniard.)

Alcaraz finished by avenging a rare 2025 defeat. A week ago in Laver Cup, he lost to Taylor Fritz for the first time. In the Tokyo final, he beat him soundly and convincingly 6-4, 6-4. He faced just three break points, and matched Fritz with six aces. There was also one moment that showed how much his serve has helped his consistency.

Eight titles, 10 finals. That shows how hard I’ve worked just to be able to experience these moments and accomplish my goals. Carlos Alcaraz

It came at 2-1 in the second set. Alcaraz was serving up a set and a break, and Fritz had just had his left thigh taped. With nothing to lose, the American started teeing off, and Alcaraz put a backhand into the net, and sent one long, to go down a break point. Was a dip in level coming? Were some nerves bubbling up now that he could see the finish line? Neither would have been a surprise from him in the past. Instead, Alcaraz calmly curled a first serve down the T for a winner, went on to hold, and raced to a 5-1 lead.

The title seemed secure. Maybe too secure. Serving at 5-2, Alcaraz missed a couple of routine backhands, and watched Fritz nail a backhand winner down the line on break point. But the top seed didn’t make the same mistake when he served for the title again at 5-4. After going down 15-30, he hit another service winner down the T, and finished the match as only Carlitos can, with two straight perfectly measured drop-shot winners.

“It’s been my best season so far without a doubt,” Alcaraz said. “Eight titles, 10 finals. That shows how hard I’ve worked just to be able to experience these moments and accomplish my goals. I didn’t start the year that good, struggling emotionally, so how I came back from that, I’m just really proud of myself.”

Alcaraz also made an impressive physical comeback in Tokyo. In the first set of his first match, he fell to the court with an injured ankle. While it looked scary, it never appeared to affect his play. In his trophy speech, he game special thanks to his physio for helping him through it.

“I enjoyed every single second [except] the five minutes I was on the floor after I hurt my ankle,” Alcaraz said with a smile. “I’m really happy with the level that I played, with everything. Starting the week not good with the ankle, and the way that I came back from that, I’m just really happy about it.”

Unfortunately, that’s as far as his ankle would take him. After the final, Alcaraz pulled out of his next event, the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, citing his need to recover.

It was quick trip to Asia, but it was enough time for Alcaraz to show what his opponents might have to deal with for a long time to come.