It didn’t, so we preferred to be careful and withdraw as a precaution,” Alcaraz said, adding that he would have further tests on Wednesday. World number two Carlos Alcaraz retired from his first-round match Tuesday at the ATP Rio Open after rolling his right ankle on just the second point of the contest against Thiago Monteiro. “I spoke with the physiotherapist on the court and we decided, together, that I would continue to see if it improved.
The Spanish star took a medical timeout, had the ankle taped and won the first game but after dropping his serve in the second game he called it quits, in another setback to a so-far disappointing 2024 campaign.
Shortly after the match Alcaraz told reporters the decision to withdraw was a “precaution” and that the physiotherapists who treated him had indicated the injury “is not serious.
He and 117th-ranked Brazilian Monteiro were two points into the match when Alcaraz’s right foot stuck in the red clay surface at Jockey Club Brasileiro, where rain had delayed the start of play for three hours. The injury comes with Italy’s Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner closing in on Alcaraz’s world number two ranking.
That had cleared by the time Alcaraz and Monteiro squared off and Alcaraz said court conditions were not to blame. “Those things happen, even more so on clay,” Alcaraz said. “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,” Monteiro said.
