Carlos Alcaraz secured his first title since returning from a four-month injury absence on Tuesday, defeating Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in the Japan Open final.
The top seed and defending champion was pushed hard by world number 19 Lehecka in Tokyo but eventually prevailed to claim his first trophy since winning the Qatar Open in February.
The victory came in Alcaraz’s third tournament since recovering from a wrist injury. He had previously reached the quarter-finals of the US Open before featuring at the Laver Cup.
“A lot of negative thoughts come to your mind: if you’re going to come back healthy, if you’re going to be the same as I was before,” said Alcaraz.
“A lot of thoughts came to my mind, but I tried to put those thoughts away all the time.
“My team and I knew that when I came back, I was going to be healthy 100 per cent, and if I feel something, it’s not going to be anything at all.”
The victory marked the world number three’s third title of the season, following the Australian Open, and took his career tally to 27 trophies.
Alcaraz’s triumph came just hours after world number one Jannik Sinner revealed that he had ended his season early because of a persistent knee injury.
The Spaniard entered the final having won three of his four previous meetings with Lehecka, who was aiming to secure his first title of the season.
Lehecka made the stronger start, breaking Alcaraz’s serve in the opening game and refusing to allow the top seed time to find his rhythm.
Alcaraz responded with a hard-fought break midway through the opening set before producing a powerful service game immediately afterwards.
However, Lehecka continued to make life difficult for the defending champion. Alcaraz eventually needed two outstanding drop shots to secure the opening set in a tiebreak.
The Czech continued to challenge Alcaraz in the second set, but the Spaniard managed to secure a crucial break midway through the set before calmly serving out the match.
Alcaraz is scheduled to return to action at the Shanghai Masters, which begins on Wednesday.
Last year, he withdrew from the Shanghai tournament at short notice after his Tokyo triumph, citing “physical issues” and criticising the demanding tennis calendar.