Tokyo: Alcaraz beats Lehecka to defend his title

Carlos Alcaraz has successfully defended his title at the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. In the final the Spaniard beat Czech player Jiri Lehecka 7-6(4) 6-4, repeating last year's success. It is Alcaraz's second consecutive title at this ATP 500, won while dropping only two sets all week.

The value of the win also shows in the rankings. Alcaraz is world No. 3 on the ATP list with 5,760 live points, including the 500 earned in Tokyo. Ahead of him is Alexander Zverev at No. 2, with 4,010 more points, while Ben Shelton at No. 4 is 1,105 points behind. The Spaniard therefore stays firmly on the rankings podium.

The result also matters for the points arithmetic. In 2025 the Tokyo title was worth 500 points, and those points expire with this year's edition: by winning again, Alcaraz replaced the old haul with an identical one, losing no ground. Over the next six weeks he has just 50 points to defend, a margin that lets him look at the final part of the season with great calm.

The final was tight in the first set. Lehecka, world No. 14, kept pace with his opponent up to the tie-break, where Alcaraz pulled away and closed it 7-4. In the second set the Spaniard finished it 6-4 and lifted the trophy, without giving the Czech a deciding set.

It was still a week to remember for Lehecka. The Czech started in the third round against Zizou Bergs, beating him 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3, then got past Ugo Humbert in the last 16 by 5-7 6-4 6-4 and dominated the quarter-final against Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, winning 6-1 6-1. In the semi-final he beat Valentin Vacherot 6-4 6-2, before stopping against the strongest of the field.

With the final Lehecka collects 330 points and reaches 2,540 in the live ranking, which puts him at No. 14, 119 points behind Rafael Jodar and 70 ahead of Jakub Mensik. His career-high ranking is No. 12, reached on 13 July 2026. In his last ten matches he has won seven and lost three.

Alcaraz's run began in the third round against American Alex Michelsen. The score was 7-6(1) 4-6 6-1, with one set going to his opponent. In the last 16 came the first real sign of strength, a 7-6(6) 6-1 win over Matteo Arnaldi, who in the previous round had beaten Rei Sakamoto from a set down, 2-6 6-4 6-4.

In the quarter-finals Denis Shapovalov had to retire with Alcaraz leading 7-6(3) 2-1, the only retirement of the entire tournament. The Canadian had beaten Alejandro Tabilo 7-5 3-6 6-4 in the last 16 but could not continue. The Spaniard thus saved energy for the semi-final against Jaume Antoni Munar Clar.

The semi-final was the toughest match of the week. Munar Clar, who had beaten Taylor Fritz, the 2025 finalist, 6-7(7) 6-4 6-3 and then Kyrian Jacquet 6-4 6-2, won the first set 7-5. Alcaraz answered with two sharp sets, 6-3 6-1, and turned around a match that had started badly. Thanks to this tournament, Munar Clar jumps 15 places in the live ranking, from No. 64 to No. 49.

The draw tells the story of a very hard-fought edition. There were 32 players from 17 nations, with the United States the most represented (five players, best result the last 16). Thirty-one matches were played, 13 went to a tie-break and 12 to a deciding set. No set finished 6-0, a sign of a very high average level.

The match with the most games of the whole week was Valentin Vacherot against Stefanos Tsitsipas, which finished 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 after 33 games. Vacherot then also eliminated Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals, 7-5 4-6 6-4, before losing to Lehecka in the semi-final. Frenchman Fils, the 2024 Tokyo champion, had beaten Luca Van Assche and Frances Tiafoe before going out.

Among the well-known names, Casper Ruud lost in the third round to Luciano Darderi, 7-6(3) 6-3, and Holger Rune was beaten by Jacquet 6-3 6-1. Matteo Berrettini won a battle against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (1-6 7-6(1) 6-4) but lost to Vallejo in the last 16, 7-6(6) 6-1. Darderi went out in the last 16 against Jacquet, 6-3 7-6(5). All three Italians in the draw, Darderi, Berrettini and Arnaldi, therefore finished with the best Italian result: the last 16.

To understand Alcaraz's season you have to look at the whole picture. In 2025, in the top-level tour events, he won 66 matches and lost 7, with eight titles; after Tokyo he is 9-1 in his last ten matches. His only recent defeat came in the quarter-finals of the 2026 US Open against Ben Shelton, 6-7(5) 6-1 6-3 1-6 7-6(7), after five sets.

Alcaraz's career-high ranking is No. 2, reached on 3 July 2026. The gap to Zverev, 4,010 points, is wide but not unbridgeable in a season that still has several big events ahead. Between 2021 and 2025 the Spaniard won 22 titles and played 28 finals in the tournaments tracked by the site.

The tournament's roll of honour speaks clearly. In 2025 Alcaraz beat Taylor Fritz in the final with a double 6-4; in 2024 Fils won, beating Humbert in the final 5-7 7-6(6) 6-3, and in 2022 Fritz, over Tiafoe 7-6(3) 7-6(2). Alcaraz therefore repeats last year's success and puts his name on the trophy for the second time.

What now? The autumn calendar will give Alcaraz new chances to cut the gap to Zverev and consolidate third place ahead of Shelton. With only 50 points to defend over the next six weeks, every result from here on will mainly be a gain. For Lehecka the points to defend over the same period are 190. We will follow it all on youaretennis.com.