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Francisco Cerundolo booked his place in the final at Queen's Club with a hard-fought 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4 win over the American Brandon Nakashima on Saturday.Cerundolo will face American eighth seed Tommy Paul in Sunday's decider after he beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-3."I'm super happy because it's my first final in an ATP 500," Cerundolo said on court at the end of the match.The pair went toe-to-toe on the grass at the Wimbledon warm-up event in the first set before the 24-year-old Nakashima got the edge in the tiebreak, taking it 7/5.The 27-year-old Argentinian hit back in the second, breaking to go up 4-3 and picking up the next two games to square the match.The decider went on serve initially until Cerundolo produced a perfect cross-court forehand that left Nakashima swishing at air.The break put him 3-2 up but he couldn't retain the advantage with the American, now coached by former world no.6 Wayne Ferreira who won at Queen's in 1992, breaking straight back.Cerundolo, who won a grass title at Eastbourne in 2023, broke again to go 5-4 up and duly served out for the match. 'A CHALLENGING MATCH'"It was a really challenging match, really tough," said Cerundolo."I think Brandon is playing incredible too. He was playing amazing during the whole weekend today also."I'm super happy because I just stayed there competing."Paul, a Queen's champion in 2024, continued his impressive form this week against Humbert, having not dropped a set in west London.The 29-year-old will seek to claim his second trophy of the season, after lifting the clay-court title in Houston, when he meets Cerundolo in Sunday's final.Cerundolo boasts a 5-2 lead over Paul in their previous career meetings, including a three-sets victory over the American in the round of 32 at Queen's three years ago.  

Carlos Alcaraz said he had to go on the offensive to protect his injured ankle after beating Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday to reach the Japan Open semi-finals.The world number one hurt himself during his opening match in Tokyo and he admitted after his next outing that the injury had worried him and was on his mind on the court.The Spaniard again played with strapping showing above his left sock but it did not appear to trouble him as he brushed aside American world number 33 Nakashima with a brutal display of power tennis.Alcaraz will face Norway's world number 12 Casper Ruud in Monday's semi-finals and he said he was "still thinking about the ankle"."I had to play more aggressive than normal because I just want to let him run much more than I do in the match," said Alcaraz."You can see that there are some times that I can't go as fast as I want, I'm just taking care about the steps I'm doing in the match."That's why sometimes I was playing really big shots, because I didn't want to run from side to side," he added.Alcaraz had his service broken three times in his previous night's win over Belgium's Zizou Bergs.He gave Nakashima no such help and did not face any break points as he stayed on the front foot all match.Alcaraz is playing in Japan for the first time and he treated the crowd to some outrageous shots that grew gasps from the packed stands."First of all, I'm a huge fan of tennis, and seeing these kinds of shots, if it comes from me or not, I just enjoy," said Alcaraz."Tonight there were a few of them that I was like 'that was a really good one'."Alcaraz said the love he is receiving from the Tokyo crowd is mutual."Really grateful and really happy with the atmosphere that they're creating," he said."I just try to play in a style that I like them to be entertained watching the match."Alcaraz's semi-final opponent Ruud beat Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-2.World number five Taylor Fritz will play fellow American Jenson Brooksby in the other semi-final.Fritz, the number two seed, came through a tough quarter-final against another American, Sebastian Korda, winning 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.Brooksby beat the number three seed, Denmark's Holger Rune, 6-3, 6-3.Fritz, who beat Alcaraz this month at the Laver Cup, said he had struggled with the weather in Tokyo, with temperatures around 27C for his late morning match."I wasn't expecting it to be that hot and humid," he said."Tough to play in that heat and play a lot of physical, long points."