TOKYO (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz is going to play his first final since coming back from a 4 ½-month layoff for a right wrist injury.
The third-ranked Alcaraz lost 16 straight points at the end of the first set and the start of the second before coming back to beat qualifier Jaume Munar 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the Japan Open semifinals on Monday.
In Tuesday’s final, Alcaraz will face 19th-ranked Jiri Lehecka, who beat Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2.
Lehecka is on a six-match winning streak after also posting victories in both of his singles matches when he led Czech Republic past the United States to qualify for the Davis Cup Final 8.
Alcaraz returned from injury in late August and made a run to the U.S. Open quarterfinals, where he lost to Ben Shelton in a match that ended at 3:33 a.m. He’s been wearing a compression sleeve on his right arm since his return.
Alcaraz hasn’t played a final since getting beat by Jannik Sinner at the Monte Carlo Masters in April. He’s aiming to defend the title he won last year in Tokyo.
Against Munar, a fellow Spaniard, Alcaraz appeared to take control with a break midway through the first set before his sudden drop in form. He hit consecutive double faults to hand the first set to Munar — making it 14 straight points lost.
In all, after he also dropped the opening two points of the second set, Alcaraz lost 16 straight points.
But the top-seeded Alcaraz broke in the opening game of the second and rolled from there.
“I don’t know what happened in the first set,” Alcaraz said. “It seems that I’m struggling in every first set. … But I’ve come back every time and I’m really happy about it.”
Munar upset 12th-ranked Taylor Fritz in the opening round.
“Jaume is a pretty tough player to play against and these conditions suit him well,” Alcaraz said. “I’m just happy that in the second set I tried to stay there. I made a couple of breaks that helped a lot to get a bit of confidence. Then I started to play more aggressively.”
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