Everything Carlos Alcaraz said after his Japan Open masterclass, ft. his bold statement of confidence
Carlos Alcaraz sent a clear message about his level of confidence after he produced a stunning performance to progress to the semi-finals of the 2025 Japan Open.
The world No 1, who is making his debut in Tokyo, was mesmerising as he struck 39 winners in a 6-2, 6-4 victory against world No 33 Brandon Nakashima in the last eight.
Alcaraz is on a 16-match winning streak, has won 40 of his last 41 matches and holds a 64-6 record in 2025 (excluding the Laver Cup).
The Spaniard won his sixth Grand Slam title at the US Open last month following his triumph at the Cincinnati Masters, and his only tour-level loss since April was against Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final.
Here is everything Alcaraz said in his on-court interview with Tennis TV after his masterclass against Nakashima, including his comment that he feels like he “can do everything on the court.”
Q. Carlos, there’s a lot of American flags in the bottom half of the draw. How important as it to get a Spanish win at the top half?
Alcaraz: “Well, it’s great to go through, to play another semi-final. It’s special because it’s the first time that I’m playing here in Japan, here in Tokyo. So reaching the semi-final for the first time in my first appearance, is something great.
“Yeah, I just try to not let the Americans go forward (smiling), so it’s great to see a Spanish flag in the draw.”
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Q. You’re on track for your best-ever season. How confident are you feeling? Do you feel like this is the best period of your career?
Alcaraz: “Yeah, probably. I’m just feeling great on court. Every time that I step on the court, I feel like I can do everything, no? Yeah, I’m approaching the end of the season with a lot of confidence and these kind of matches with this kind of level helps a lot to keep the confidence really high.
“As I said, I’m just trying to set up goals before the tournaments, before the matches, trying to follow those goals and I think that helps me a lot to play a great tennis and to maintain the focus during the match.”
Q. We spoke earlier about you being a warrior, a Samurai warrior. Perhaps a wizard with a wand is more apt for that last game, that was incredible.
Alcaraz: “Yeah, 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.”
