Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jiri Lehecka to successfully defend his Japan Open crown as he won his third title of 2026 while also earning the maximum amount of points available.
Playing in his fourth final of the year and first since losing to Jannik Sinner at the Monte Carlo Masters, Alcaraz made a typically slow start as he was broken in the opening game of the match.
But the top seed soon found his rhythm as he got back on serve after a long, drawn-out game six before edging the tie-breaker while the crucial moment in the second set came in the seventh game when he broke the Lehecka serve.
Alcaraz eventually served it out for a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win as he won the 27th ATP Tour singles title of his career at the age of 22 while Lehecka’s wait for his third career trophy continues.
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“I’m really happy to be able to lift a trophy again. It’s been a while and obviously it’s special after my injury, my comeback, it’s the second tournament I’ve played since my comeback,” the Spaniard said after winning his first title since returning to action following his wrist injury.
“Lifting the trophy, it means a lot. I’m just really, really happy about it. Really top week. I didn’t find my best tennis, my best level, but I did find the good solutions.
“I think that’s what matters at the end. Playing the most important points the best you can. I think I did it this week. I’m just happy. I think today was the best match of the week or at least more consistent level that I played. Just really, really happy.”
Points Earned At Japan Open
Alcaraz was the defending champion, but the points for his 2025 title run were removed last week so the 500 points for this year’s win will be added to his rankings and increase his total to 5,560 points.
Despite the increase, Alcaraz remains a distant third with world No 1 Jannik Sinner on 11,000 points in the Live ATP Rankings while Alexander Zverev is second on 9,720.
Zverev, of course, will become the new world No 1 following Sinner’s decision to end his season early due to his knee injury and Alcaraz is not part of that conversation as he will come up short even if he goes on to win the Shanghai Masters, Paris Masters and ATP Finals.
Jiri Lehecka, a former world No 12, earned 305 points to move to 2,425, earning an eight-place jump to No 15 in the Live Rankings.
Prize Money Earned
Last year Alcaraz earned $416,365 for winning the title and this year he received a cheque of $437,955 for his efforts.
The seven-time Grand Slam winner had earned $5,145,354 so far in 2026 before the Japan Open got underway, while his career earnings were $65,595,871, which puts him fifth on the all-time list for most prize money earned.
Lehecka’s 2026 prize money was $2,349,593 before the ATP 500 event while his career total stood at $9,748,906, and he has added another $235,685 to both those totals.
