RIO DE JANEIRO – World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz will have tests on his ankle after suffering an injury that forced him to retire from his Rio Open first-round match against Thiago Monteiro on Feb 20.
He needed medical attention after twisting his right ankle on the second point of the contest, and the 20-year-old returned to the court a little later with heavy strapping.
The Spaniard played through the pain and managed to break Brazilian Monteiro’s serve, but retired after being broken in the next game as the match ended with the score at 1-1.
“Tomorrow, I’ll have a test for my ankle and let’s see if it’s something serious or not,” Alcaraz said.
“I felt bad. That was the first impression I had. I was feeling pain once I fell down, so I thought it was going to be difficult to continue if I was still having those feelings.
“After a few points, it didn’t feel better. I couldn’t move well and I knew that it was going to be impossible to continue. I thought it was going to get worse if I kept playing for such a long match and that’s why I choose to retire.”
Top seed Alcaraz won the Rio title in 2022 and was runner-up last season, when he lost to Briton Cameron Norrie.
He arrived in Rio after losing to Chilean Nicolas Jarry in the semi-finals of last week’s Buenos Aires Open.
The two-time Grand Slam winner’s tough start to 2024 included a four-set defeat by Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
“It’s really sad to win in this way, because I know how hard every player works to be ready for a tournament of this magnitude. I just wish him a speedy recovery, that it’s nothing serious or that it won’t affect his season,” said Monteiro, who improved to 2-0 against the Spaniard.
Alcaraz’s injury comes with Italy’s Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner closing in on his world No. 2 ranking.
He leads Sinner – who won the Rotterdam title over the weekend – by just 535 points and has 1,000 points to defend in March at the prestigious hard-court tournament in Indian Wells, where he hopes to be fit by then.
Alcaraz had also announced earlier on Feb 20 that he would play at the Queen’s Club Championships before defending his Wimbledon title in July – the same formula that landed him his triumph last season. He won the Queen’s title in 2023 and then swept through the Wimbledon fortnight, beating holder Novak Djokovic in the final.
The 2022 US Open champion is the first player to confirm his entry for the prestigious pre-Wimbledon tournament.
“Winning the title in 2023 was very special for me and the perfect preparation for Wimbledon,” said Alcaraz, who beat Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the final.
“I really enjoyed playing on the British grass courts and look forward to competing again this summer.” REUTERS, AFP
