Alcaraz suffered ankle injury in Rio opener, retired after two games

Rio de Janeiro (Uttam Hindu News): Top seed Carlos Alcaraz suffered an ankle injury after just two points during his opening match of the Rio Open against Thiago Monteiro. He tried to continue the match, but retired shortly after.

According to the tournament website, Alcaraz was returning to the center of the court after hitting a forehand return. Meanwhile, in an attempt to play Monteiro’s return, the Spanish player stuck his right foot to stop his momentum, but his right ankle got badly twisted and he fell on the ground on his back.

He returned to his bench with Monteiro’s help and ATP physio Alejandro Resnikoff bandaged his ankle. He returned to the court and broke the Brazilian player’s serve to take a 1-0 lead. But his movement was not going well and he retired after losing serve in the next game.

“Tomorrow I’ll get my ankle checked out and see if it’s anything serious,” Alcaraz said. I was feeling pain. I couldn’t walk properly, and I knew it would be impossible to continue. I thought that if I keep playing such long matches, the situation will get worse and that is why I decided to retire (from the match).”