Alcaraz Beats Munar in Three Sets to Reach Japan Open 2026 Final
Carlos Alcaraz came back from a set down to beat fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in Monday's Japan Open semi-final. The defending champion has reached the Tokyo final after a match that changed sharply from the end of the first set. The result and score are confirmed by the ATP Tour's match report and Reuters' independent coverage.
Alcaraz led 5-3 in the opening set but lost 16 consecutive points as Munar moved ahead. Rather than letting that run define the match, Alcaraz ended the streak at the start of the second set, broke Munar twice in that set and pulled away in the third.
How the Tokyo Semi-Final Turned
Munar, a qualifier, made Alcaraz work through long exchanges and recovered to take the first set 7-5. The ATP reports that Alcaraz had been serving for the set before Munar's 16-point run. That is a significant shift in a best-of-three-set match: what had looked like a one-set lead became a deficit.
In the second set, Alcaraz found more depth and aggression from the baseline, forcing Munar to defend from farther behind the court. He won it 6-3 and took the deciding set 6-1. The match lasted two hours and 30 minutes, according to the ATP. Reuters also reported the three-set result and the Spaniard's progress to the final.
There was no need for a speculative injury narrative to explain this result. The observable change was in the score and the rallies: Munar won the closing stretch of set one; Alcaraz recovered control over the next two sets. The ATP's account describes Alcaraz playing more aggressively once his confidence returned.
What comes next for Alcaraz?
The win takes Alcaraz into the Japan Open final. At the time of the ATP's 5 October report, the other finalist had not been settled: Jiri Lehecka and Valentin Vacherot were due to contest the remaining semi-final. Reuters reported that the championship match was scheduled for Tuesday, 6 October.
Alcaraz won in Tokyo on his tournament debut last year, making him the defending champion. The ATP says this is his fourth tour-level final of 2026 and his first since Monte-Carlo in April. His return to competition followed a right-wrist layoff; at the US Open, his run ended in the quarter-finals with a loss to Ben Shelton, as the US Open's official report confirms.
For Alcaraz, Monday's result offers a clear answer to one question: even after losing a set he had been in position to win, he found a way into another final. The title itself remains undecided. Check the ATP Tour's Tokyo results page for the final draw and official result once play is complete, or browse further updates on the SkyExchGames blog and its Sports News section.
