Alcaraz wins in Japan for his first title since injury return

TOKYO — Carlos Alcaraz said he "didn't want to take anything for granted" after winning his first title since returning from a four-month injury layoff in Tuesday's Japan Open final.

The top seed and defending champion defeated world No 19 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic 7-6(4), 6-4 in Tokyo to lift his first trophy since the Qatar Open in February.

It was his second singles tournament since coming back from a wrist injury, following a run to the US Open quarterfinals.

Alcaraz also played at the Laver Cup team event in London last week.

The world No 3 said he "wanted to earn everything", but did not know how quickly he would rediscover his form. "I don't want to take anything for granted," he said.

"I didn't know if I was going to win a tournament this soon, or if I was going to win a tournament this season.

"I just want to arrive at a tournament, give my best, try to play my best and see how the tournament went."

Alcaraz's win gave him his third title of the year, including the Australian Open, and the 27th of his career.

The Spaniard's victory came hours after world No 1 Jannik Sinner announced that he had brought a premature end to his season due to an ongoing knee injury.

"I think, at this tournament, I was far away from my best level, but in terms of finding solutions and playing the best level that I could in the most important moments, I think it was a great week," said Alcaraz.

"I'm really happy about lifting the trophy in my second official tournament since the injury.

"Hopefully, it's not going to be the last one this season," he added.

Alcaraz is scheduled to play in the Shanghai Masters, which started Wednesday.

He pulled out of last year's tournament at the last minute after winning in Tokyo, blaming "physical issues", and taking aim at the packed tennis schedule.

Alcaraz went into the Tokyo final with a 3-1 career head-to-head record against the Czech, who was looking to win his first title of the year.

Alcaraz had his service broken immediately by a confident-looking Lehecka, who gave his top-seeded opponent no time to settle.

The Spaniard broke back in a long tussle midway through the first set, and followed that up with a brutal display of power tennis in the next game.

Lehecka proved a tough nut to crack though, and Alcaraz needed to pull out a pair of spectacular drop shots to clinch the first set in a tiebreaker.

Lehecka continued to give Alcaraz problems, but the defending champion went a break up midway through the second set and made no mistakes to close out the victory.

Alcaraz won on his Tokyo debut last year after injuring his ankle in the opening game.

He said returning to Japan to lift the trophy again was a "special" experience.

"Winning the tournament after my injury, back to back here, it means a lot," he said. "Everything I've done to be in this position, everything I've worked for, for this moment, it feels even more special."

AFP