Carlos Alcaraz retires in Rio opener

Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the current Rio Open due to injury.

Carlos Alcaraz suffered an ankle injury just two points into his Rio Open against Thiago Monteiro and retired shortly thereafter, despite a determined effort to continue.

“Tomorrow I’ll have a test for my ankle, and let’s see if it’s something serious or not,” Alcaraz said.

“I felt, I felt bad. That was the first impression I had. I mean, I was feeling pain once I fall down, so I thought that it was going to be difficult to continue playing if I was still having those feelings.

“After a few points it didn’t feel better. He continued “I was feeling the pain. 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.”

Alcaraz who is top seed, made his ATP Tour debut in Rio in 2020, won the title in 2022 (d. Schwartzman), and finished runner-up to Cameron Norrie in 2023.

The setback will not help the Spaniard in his battle to defend the No. 2 Pepperstone ATP Ranking from surging Italian Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz who is the reigning Wimbledon champion leads Sinner by just 535 points and has 1000 points to defend next month as the defending champion at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.