Alcaraz defeats Munar in Tokyo after decisive advice from his coach

In any other game, with any other player, the instruction that Samu López gave this Monday to his pupil, Carlos Alcaraz, would sound simple: "Hit him a host!" How easy, right? In a bad moment for Alcaraz, after losing the first set, his coach asked him to hit it hard. There was no technical analysis, no change in position, no innovative proposal. Let him whip the racket and that's it. Alcaraz was surprised, looked at him and understood. Lopez was absolutely right.

In the semifinals of the ATP 500 in Tokyo, Alcaraz suffered against Jaume Munar until he started hitting the ball violently, accelerating his forehand, hitting, in short, some pretty good shots. Bim! Bam! Boom! And the resistance of Munar, which until then had been a wall, fell. The solution was as simple as that: hit harder. In the end, Alcaraz won 5-7, 6-3 and 6-1, after two hours and 38 minutes of play, and will play the final, the fourth of the season, against the winner of the duel between Jiri Lehecka and Valentin Vacherot.