Alcaraz Wins Japan Open While Djokovic Clinches Beijing

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) TOKYO/BEIJING - Carlos Alcaraz said he "didn't want to take anything for granted" after winning his first title since returning from a four-month injury layoff in Tuesday's Japan Open final.

The top seed and defending champion beat world number 19 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in Tokyo to lift his first trophy since the Qatar Open in February.

It was his second singles tournament since coming back from a wrist injury, following a run to the US Open quarter-finals.

Alcaraz also played at the Laver Cup team event in London last week.

The World No.3 said he "wanted to earn everything" but did not know how quickly he would refind his form.

"I don't want to take anything for granted," he said.

"I didn't know if I was going to win a tournament this soon or if I was going to win a tournament this season.

"I just want to arrive at a tournament, give my best, try to play my best and let's see how the tournament goes."

Alcaraz's win gave him his third title of the year including the Australian Open, and the 27th of his career.

It came hours after world number one Jannik Sinner announced that he had brought a premature end to his season due to an ongoing knee injury.

"I think at this tournament I was way far from my best level, but in terms of finding solutions and playing the best level that I could in the most important moments, I think it was a great week," said Alcaraz.

"I'm really happy about lifting the trophy in the second official tournament since the injury.

"Hopefully it's not going to be the last one this season," he added.

Tokyo double

Alcaraz is scheduled to play in the Shanghai Masters starting Wednesday.

He pulled out of last year's tournament at the last minute after winning in Tokyo, blaming "physical issues" and taking aim at tennis's packed schedule.

Alcaraz went into the Tokyo final with a 3-1 career head-to-head record against Lehecka, who was looking to win his first title of the year.

Alcaraz had his service broken immediately by a confident-looking Lehecka, who gave his top-seeded opponent no time to settle.

The Spaniard broke back in a long tussle midway through the first set and followed that up with a brutal display of power tennis in the next game.

Lehecka proved a tough nut to crack though, and Alcaraz needed to pull out a pair of spectacular drop shots to clinch the first set in a tiebreaker.

Alcaraz won in his Tokyo debut last year after injuring his ankle in his opening game.

He said returning to Japan to lift the trophy again was a "special" experience.

"Winning the tournament after my injury, back to back here, it means a lot," he said.

"Everything I've done to be in this position, everything I've worked for, for this moment, it feels even more special."

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic won the China Open on Tuesday after his opponent Alex de Minaur retired from the final, extending an astonishing unbeaten streak in Beijing and winning the 102nd title of his career.

The 39-year-old Serbian won the first set in the tie-break 7-6 (7/3) and was down a game in the second set when the Australian ended the match early.

"I always want to visualise myself with the trophy, particularly here in Beijing," Djokovic said during the trophy ceremony.

"But I was also quite aware that reality is a little bit different these days," he said, adding that it had been a challenging year with "physical and health issues".

"I was just trying to find the good feeling on the court," he said.

The first set was a physical battle that lasted more than one hour, and both men needed medical timeouts before the second.

De Minaur, World No.9, won the first game of the second set before retiring.

It was not immediately clear why de Minaur left the match, but he walked back onto the court after his medical timeout with a white wrap around his left thigh.

With the win, Djokovic extended a perfect record to 34 wins in as many matches for his seventh title in the Chinese capital -- his first since 2015.

"I don't feel great," de Minaur told the crowd afterwards.

"I want to say sorry to the amazing fans that came to watch... I didn't want to finish like this," the 27-year-old added.

De Minaur advanced to the final after his opponent Hubert Hurkacz retired injured from their semi-final on Monday, while Djokovic moved through when Daniil Medvedev was disqualified for hitting a fan with a ball.

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