Top seed Carlos Alcaraz overcame a challenging match to defeat fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 on Monday night at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Alcaraz's victory secures him a place in the final for the second consecutive year, marking his first final since returning from a five-month injury break.
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Ranked world No. 3, Alcaraz remains undefeated in his eight matches at this event and holds a perfect 20-0 record at ATP 500 tournaments since losing to Holger Rune in last year’s Barcelona final. This match was his 36th Tour-level final, moving him past Sergi Bruguera to rank fifth among Spanish players in the Open Era.
Although Alcaraz started strong, he faltered towards the end of the first set, allowing Munar to take it. It wasn't until midway through the second set that Alcaraz elevated his performance by playing more aggressively, which helped him regain control of the match.
“I don’t even know what happened between the first set and half of the second, my level of play dropped significantly,” Alcaraz acknowledged. “Overall, I didn’t play well...but I tried changing my approach. When I started playing more aggressively, it worked out well. That gave me confidence.”
With this win, Alcaraz leads his head-to-head against Munar 4-1 and has achieved 16 consecutive victories against fellow Spaniards since 2022. He reached the semifinals by defeating Denis Shapovalov, Matteo Arnaldi, and Alex Michelsen.
Munar, currently ranked No. 64, had his own impressive run leading to the semifinals, defeating Kyrian Jacquet, Jaime Faria, and third-seed Taylor Fritz.
In the final, Alcaraz will face Czech Jiri Lehecka, who advanced by defeating eighth seed Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2. Lehecka's appearance in the final marks the first for a Czech man since Tomas Berdych in 2008, and he is now set to rise to No. 15 in the rankings, reclaiming the title of Czech No. 1. Alcaraz leads their head-to-head 3-1, with Lehecka's sole victory coming in the Doha quarterfinals in 2025.