Carlos Alcaraz and Jaume Munar will meet in the semifinals of the Tokyo tournament

The Spanish tennis players Carlos Alcaraz and Jaume Munar will meet in the semifinals of the Tokyo tournament, of the ATP 500 category and played on hard courts, after beating the Canadian Denis Shapovalov this Sunday in their respective quarterfinal matches, who retired due to injury (7-6(3), 2-1), and the Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet (6-4, 6-2).

The Murcian, current number three in the world to beat and who in the round of 16 sweated to defeat the Italian Matteo Arnaldi (7-6(6), 6-1), sealed his ticket to the semi-finals unexpectedly at the Ariake Colosseum, after after the third game of the second set Shapovalov, unable to win any of the rest of the games, confirmed that his discomfort was going to prevent him from finishing the match.

Before, in the first set, the North American made things complicated for El Palmar. Both defended their first serves, but from the sixth game onwards, breaks were exchanged - three on each side - which forced the set to be decided in the tie-break. In sudden death, Alcaraz showed himself to be more reliable and advanced in the fight.

With the score at 2-1 in the second set and after both contenders won with their serve, Shapovalov's injury condemned the duel to an abrupt end after one hour and 22 minutes of play. With this, Alcaraz extends his impeccable career in Tokyo (8-0), which could make him the first player capable of defending the title since Pete Sampras, who achieved it between 1993 and 1994.

In addition, he continues to move towards his best form after overcoming his injury, after reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open and winning the Laver Cup with Europe. "I'm still far from where I want to be, but I'm doing fantastic things on the court," said Alcaraz.

Now, he will find himself in the penultimate round of the Japanese competition with the Balearic player Jaume Munar, who also sealed his place by beating the Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet in the first match of the day. A break in the first set and a couple of them in the second were enough to secure the victory in one hour and 41 minutes.