Yumi Kajihara dedicates her gold medal to her late brother, and Alkaras and Gauff continue to shine in tennis tournaments

Japanese track cyclist Yumi Kagehara broke down in tears after winning her latest gold medal at the Asian Games, dedicating the victory to her brother, who died of cancer this year, saying: “He is here with me.”

Kajihara won her third consecutive gold medal in the “Omnium” race on the Izu Cycling Track on Friday, before shedding tears as she talked about the role her younger brother Hyogo played in helping her overcome some dark moments in her life.

Kajihara (29 years old), the first Japanese cyclist to win an Olympic medal, said after she won the “Aluminum” silver in the Tokyo Olympics on the same track in Izu: “After I failed to win a medal in the Paris Olympics (2024), I was in a state of severe depression.”

She added: “I hit rock bottom.” My brother said to me: Why do you look so frustrated? Even though I have cancer, I am so happy.”

She continued: “He was fighting a very difficult battle with cancer, alone in a hospital in Tokyo.”

She added: “It must have been very difficult for him, but he never complained once. He used to say to me: “Just being alive means you are already superior,” and I said to myself: Yes, he is right. “It made me realize that I should be grateful just to be alive, grateful to those who support me, and enjoy life.”

This was Kajihara's fourth Asian gold medal, after she also won the team pursuit gold in Hangzhou 3 years ago.

She said: “My brother used to tell me every day: Have fun.” “I think I'm finally starting to understand what that really means,” she said, noting that she also won silver in the team pursuit on Tuesday.

She added: “Every time I competed here in Izzo, he would come to watch me and stay by my side. So I kept thinking today: Maybe he's here at the track! "I'm sure he's here, and I was thinking about him over and over again during the race."

She concluded: “I felt as if he was saying to me: Have fun, my day, you will be fine.”

Spaniard Carlos Alcarras qualified for the quarter-finals of the Japan Open Tennis Championship, after defeating Italian Matteo Arnaldi, 7/6, 6/1, on Saturday.

Alkaras won the match in an hour and 45 minutes.

Alkaras said, in statements published on the World Tennis Association’s website: “When you are late in the tiebreak, you think about doing something different, and then you try to perform better in the second set... I just tried to hold on and focus, one point after another. I changed my playing style from what it was before that moment, and it worked. I'm very happy with the first set; “Matthew was giving a great performance.”

After achieving his third victory over Arnaldi, Alcarras achieved his seventh consecutive victory in the 500-point Japanese Championship, after his first participation last year, which saw him win the title.

The Spanish player aims to be the first man to defend his title in the tournament since American Pete Sampras achieved this feat in 1993 and 1994.

Alcarras will meet in the quarter-finals with Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Chilean Alejandro Tabello 7/5, 3/6, 6/4.

The fourth seed in the world, American Coco Gauff, defeated Camila Osorio 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-2 thanks to great determination, overcoming a fluctuation in her serve to advance to the second round of the China Open 1000-point women’s tennis tournament on Saturday in Beijing.

The Colombian, ranked 66th in the world, showed strong resistance after losing the tough tiebreak in the first set due to two double faults, even though she needed medication to overcome a problem in her back.

Osorio saved two balls to decide the match, but Gauff was desperate and saved points in long exchanges, thanks to a perfect backhand and saving cross balls.

The 22-year-old said after the match, which lasted two hours and 18 minutes: “It was difficult, it was not the cleanest (level in the match).”

“I'm just happy with the way I was able to refocus,” she added.

In the next round, Gauff will face the winner of the match between Spain's Cristina Buxa and Chinese teenager Sun Xinran, ranked 582 in the world.

Later Saturday, world number one Kazakh Elena Rybakina is scheduled to play against Armenian world number 118 Alina Charaeva in the evening.

In the men's tournament (500 points), German top seed Alexander Zverev will play against Chinese tennis hopeful Shang Junqing in order to reach the quarter-finals against Serbian Novak Djokovic.