Carlos Alcaraz won his first final at the Japan Open after returning from a long layoff with a right wrist injury.
Alcaraz, who has been a no-show since losing to Jannik Sinner at the Monte Carlo Masters in April, successfully defended the title he won last year in Tokyo by defeating Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
The Spaniard returned from injury in late August to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open, where he lost to Ben Shelton in a match that ended at 3:33 p.m.
Alcaraz was held up by Czech star Lehecka, but it was enough to win his first tour-level trophy since Doha in February.
“It’s very special to win the title again. It’s been a while,” said the 23-year-old Alcaraz, the first man since Pete Sampras in 1994 to successfully defend the Japan Open title. “It’s amazing to win a trophy in my second tournament. I didn’t find my best tennis all week, but today I found the best solution for the best match I played. Happy.”
The 19th-ranked Lehecka was sharper at the start and took a 3-1 lead, but Alcaraz, wearing a compression sleeve on his right arm, came back to level at 3-3 and showed off his repertoire of crowd-pleasing shots in the tie-break to win by 5 points.
He broke into action in the seventh game of the second set, leading 4-3, and was elated after winning.
Alcaraz began the season by winning her seventh major title at the Australian Open to complete her career Grand Slam and also lifted the trophy at her next tournament in Doha before being sidelined by injury.
Alcaraz vs Lehecka: The tale of Lent
‘I was shaking’ – Muchova denies Osaka in thriller
Karolina Muchova hugs Naomi Osaka after winning a brilliant contest at the China Open
Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova She came through a thrilling fourth-round encounter at the WTA China Open, holding Naomi Osaka down in both the first and third sets to eventually earn her ninth match point to advance 7-5 1-6 7-6 (9-7) in just under three hours.
“Honestly, I didn’t even believe that I would finish the match,” Muchova said in an interview on the court.
“There are so many match points that I didn’t know how many. After one match I was like, OK, I’m going for it, but then I think that she always played great and steady and didn’t make mistakes – unlike me, unfortunately! I was shaking. I’m glad I hit the last volley. Naomi could have stopped here, I appreciated, and I was very happy for me.”
Fourth seed Mirra Andreeva advanced to the 1/4 finals of the WTA China Open tournament with a simple victory.
The 19-year-old Russian defeated Ukrainian Daria Sniguru 6-2 6-2 at the Beijing National Tennis Center.
Andreeva’s next place will be her compatriot and 19th-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova, who is 12 years older than her.
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