Alcaraz keeps Tokyo with one tiebreak and two breaks of Lehecka

Two. Carlos Alcaraz has now won the Japan Open in back-to-back years, defending his Tokyo title by beating Jiri Lehecka 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final. It is his third title of 2026, after the Australian Open and Doha, and he never dropped a set against a man who won 60 of the 129 points.

The margin was thin. Alcaraz won 69 of 129 points, 53 percent, and Lehecka took the other 60. Lehecka hit seven aces to four and did not serve a double fault, but he won only 68 percent of his service points (48 of 71) against 79 percent for Alcaraz (46 of 58). The gap sat in the second serve: Alcaraz won 13 of 19 points behind his, Lehecka 14 of 26.

The first set began badly for the champion. Lehecka broke him in the opening game, and Alcaraz did not get the break back until game 6, which levelled it at 3-3. Neither man was broken again, so the set went to a tiebreak, and Alcaraz took it 7-4. In the second set he broke once, in game 7, to lead 4-3, and held to the end for 6-4. Over the match he saved two of the three break points he faced and converted two of his four, while Lehecka converted one of his three.

This is Alcaraz's 28th career tour title, and his second at the Japan Open after Tokyo 2025. As the top seed he began in the opening round against Alex Michelsen, 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-1, and came from a set down against Jaume Munar in the semi-final, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. Denis Shapovalov retired in the quarter-final with Alcaraz ahead 7-6(3), 2-1. Lehecka, ranked 23rd, reached the final by beating Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2. The head-to-head now stands at 4-1 to Alcaraz, whose only defeat in the series came in the Doha quarter-final of 2025.

Match tale, 6 October 2026, sources: Tokyo, api-tennis