AAP Tennis

Alcaraz survives early scare to reach Tokyo quarters

By AAP Newswire

Oct 3, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz has saved four set points before beating Matteo Arnaldi to reach the quarter-finals of the Japan Open.

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The Spanish top seed and defending champion found himself 6-2 down in a first-set tiebreak on Saturday.

But Alcaraz won six points in a row to take the opener and then broke Italian Arnaldi twice in the second set for a 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 victory.

"When you are down 6-2 in a tiebreak, you are thinking about doing something different," Alcaraz said on court.

"Then you are trying to be better in the second set. I just tried to stay there, point after point. I changed how I played until that moment and it worked out. Just happy that I got that first set. Matteo was playing great."

Alcaraz is aiming to become the first man to defend his Tokyo title since Pete Sampras in 1993-94.

Denis Shapovalov is the next test for the 26-time tour-level title winner after the Canadian scored a 7-5 3-6 6-4 win over Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.

In the day's other action, Czech world No.23 Jiri Lehecka set up a clash with Adolfo Daniel Vallejo after defeating Ugo Humbert of France, 5-7 6-4 6-4.

Qualifier Vallejo enjoyed a 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 triumph against Italy's Matteo Berrettini to become the first Paraguayan to reach the last eight at an ATP 500 event.

With AAP.