Curated By: Aakash Biswas
Last Updated: February 21, 2024, 09:21 IST
Carlos Alcaraz retired from his first-spherical with ankle harm (AFP Photo)
Carloz Alcaraz took a medical timeout, had the ankle taped and received the primary sport however after dropping his serve in the second sport he referred to as it quits
World quantity two Carlos Alcaraz retired from his first-spherical match Tuesday on the ATP Rio Open after rolling his proper ankle on simply the second level of the competition in opposition to Thiago Monteiro.
The Spanish star took a medical timeout, had the ankle taped and received the primary sport however after dropping his serve in the second sport he referred to as it quits, in one other setback to a so-far disappointing 2024 marketing campaign.
Shortly after the match Alcaraz advised reporters the choice to withdraw was a “precaution” and that the physiotherapists who handled him had indicated the harm “is not serious.”
“I spoke with the physiotherapist on the court and we decided, together, that I would continue to see if it improved. It didn’t, so we preferred to be careful and withdraw as a precaution,” Alcaraz mentioned, including that he would have additional exams on Wednesday.
The two-time Grand Slam winner’s powerful begin to 2024 included a 4-set defeat by Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Last Saturday he fell to twenty first-ranked Chilean Nicolas Jarry in the semi-finals at Buenos Aires, and hasn’t received an ATP title since his gorgeous Wimbledon conquer Novak Djokovic final July.
Hopes that he might begin turning issues round in Rio — the place he lifted the trophy in 2022 and completed runner-as much as Britain’s Cameron Norrie final yr — had been shortly dashed.
He and 117th-ranked Brazilian Monteiro had been two factors into the match when Alcaraz’s proper foot caught in the purple clay floor at Jockey Club Brasileiro, the place rain had delayed the beginning of play for 3 hours.
Four of the day’s tennis matches had been postponed till Wednesday and the primary gamers to take the courtroom on Tuesday performed in misty situations.
‘Those things happen’
That had cleared by the point Alcaraz and Monteiro squared off and Alcaraz mentioned courtroom situations had been to not blame.
“Those things happen, even more so on clay,” Alcaraz mentioned.
“It wasn’t a problem with the court, I got hurt in a change of direction and that happens on this type of surface,” added the Spaniard, who was sluggish to rise after taking a tough fall, limping to his chair and placing a towel over his face earlier than the coach arrived.
Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero seemed on with concern from the stands as Alcaraz, with a grimace and a slight limp, returned to motion and received the opening sport.
But after dropping his serve in the second he opted to not proceed.
“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 mentioned.
“I just wish him a speedy recovery, that it’s nothing serious or that it won’t affect his season,” added the 29-yr-previous left-hander, who improved to 2-0 in opposition to Alcaraz, whom he beat in the spherical of 16 of the Melbourne-1 in 2021.
The harm comes with Italy’s Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner closing in on Alcaraz’s world quantity two rating.
Alcaraz leads Sinner — who received the Rotterdam title on Sunday — by simply 535 factors and has 1,000 factors to defend subsequent month on the prestigious hardcourt match in Indian Wells, California.
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – AFP)
