World No.3 Carlos Alcaraz (Image: IANS)
He also remains on course to defend the Tokyo title he won in 2025, when he defeated Taylor Fritz in the final. Alcaraz will face Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka in the championship match after the 19th-ranked player defeated Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal. The victory takes Alcaraz into his first final since returning from a four-and-a-half-month layoff caused by a right wrist injury.
Alcaraz lets first set slip
The defending champion appeared on course to close out the opening set when he led 5-3 and was serving for it. Instead, his momentum disappeared as Munar won 16 consecutive points to snatch the set and put Alcaraz under pressure. 3 responded like a defending champion, raising his level in the second set before taking complete control in the decider to seal a two-hour, 31-minute victory. Alcaraz raced to a 4-0 lead with two breaks and never allowed his compatriot to build any momentum. Munar managed to hold once, but Alcaraz calmly served out the match 6-1.
But the world No. It continued a trend for Alcaraz in Tokyo, where he has been forced to dig deep in the opening sets throughout the tournament. He needed tiebreaks to get past Denis Shapovalov, Matteo Arnaldi and Alex Michelsen in the previous three rounds. Against Munar, however, there was no tiebreak comeback needed. The third set was almost entirely one-way traffic.
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