{"id":114091,"date":"2026-10-04T16:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T16:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/alcaraz-through-to-japan-open-semis-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T16:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T16:56:15","slug":"alcaraz-through-to-japan-open-semis-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/alcaraz-through-to-japan-open-semis-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Alcaraz through to Japan Open semis | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n TOKYO: <\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the semi-finals of the Japan Open on Sunday after an ailing Denis Shapovalov retired to hand the world number three a 7-6 (7\/3), 2-1 victory.<\/p>\n

His Canadian opponent was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury to his upper right thigh in the first game of the second set.<\/p>\n

Defending champion Alcaraz will play fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar for a place in the final after the world number 64 ended the impressive run of 86th-ranked Kyrian Jacquet of France.<\/p>\n

The match was hard-fought until Shapovalov’s retirement, with Alcaraz troubled by the variety of his game as the world number 46 mixed deep shots with drop shots, and power with spin.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz, who saved four set points against Matteo Arnaldi on Saturday, salvaged another here at 5-4 down and went on to seal the tie-break with a passing shot before Shapovalov’s injury.<\/p>\n

The Australian Open champion is playing only his third event since returning from a months-long wrist injury, having reached the quarter-finals of the US Open last month.<\/p>\n

Later on Sunday, Valentin Vacherot upset France’s Arthur Fils 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 to set up a semi-final against Jiri Lehecka.<\/p>\n

Fils seemed to be making short work of the big-serving world number 18 when he earned two set points at 5-3.<\/p>\n

But he then caved in, losing the next four games to hand Vacherot the opener on a superb down-the-line return.<\/p>\n

Fils forced a deciding set after an intense battle, pumping his fist and rallying the crowd, but eventually succumbed in a tight two-hour, 20-minute match.<\/p>\n

Lehecka, the Czech world number 23, breezed into the semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, wrapping up the win in under an hour.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOKYO: Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the semi-finals of the Japan Open on Sunday after an ailing Denis Shapovalov retired to hand the world number three a 7-6 (7\/3), 2-1 victory. His Canadian opponent was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury to his upper right thigh in the first game of the second set. Defending […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/img-35891791117738-0\/img-35891791117738-0-640x480.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t