Carlos Alcaraz qualifies for the Tokyo ATP 500 final

More fear than harm. World No.3 Carlos Alcaraz qualified on Monday for the final of the ATP 500 in Tokyo at the expense of his Spanish compatriot Jaume Munar (64th) despite a less sharp game than usual and a sudden drop in speed which cost him the first set.

Title holder in Tokyo, the seven-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments won 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 and will face Monegasque Valentin Vacherot (14th) or Czech Jiri Lehecka (19th) in the final. Already feverish when he entered the fray against the American Alex Michelsen (35th), Alcaraz seemed to be out of energy during most of the first two sets against Munar.

The former world No.1 nevertheless seemed to be on course to win the first set, as he served to win the set at 5-4. But Munar inflicted three shutouts in a row to take the lead, while an unrecognizable Alcaraz concluded the set with two double faults in a row. At the start of the second set, the world No.3 put an end to an incredible series of sixteen lost points in a row and broke Munar in the first game... before immediately conceding his own throw-in (1-1).

Alcaraz took over his opponent's serve in the next game and then maintained his advantage as best he could until the end of the set. Leaving the court at the end of the second act, the 23-year-old Spaniard returned with a different face, pounding Munar from all sides to fly through the deciding set and offer himself his first final since April and his lost duel against Jannik Sinner at the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo. The following week in Barcelona, ​​Alcaraz injured his right wrist, the start of an absence of more than four months.