“Thought it was going to get worse if I kept playing” – Alcaraz retires due to ankle injury in Rio

Brazilian wildcard Thiago Monteiro reached the second round of the Rio Open when Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, retired on Wednesday night at the Jockey Club Brasileiro in Rio de Janeiro.

Monteiro, ranked No 117, led 1-1 when Alcaraz, ranked No 2, pulled out at the Jockey Club Brasileiro in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

Alcaraz rolled his ankle two points into the first game of the match and wasn’t able to play through the pain. He took a medical timeout and returned to play, breaking Monteiro in the first game, but he decided to pull the plug after dropping the next game, just ten minutes into the contest.

The injury didn’t look very serious, Alcaraz was able to walk off the court under his own power.

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.

Speaking to the media after his retirement, Alcaraz said he will undergo some tests for his ankle on Wednesday.

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

Defending champion Alcaraz drops to 10-3 on the season, and 0-2 lifetime against Monteiro. The Brazilian also won their only previous meeting at the Melbourne ATP 250 in 2021. Monteiro will go on to play Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves next.

The Spaniard has not reached a final on the tour since Cincinnati in August and will lose 300 points due to his early loss this week, having won the title in Rio last year. Alcaraz now holds only a 535-point lead over third-ranked Jannik Sinner.

Rio de Janeiro ATP 500, other first-round matches (Jockey Club Brasileiro, clay, USD 2,100,230):

• Facundo Diaz Acosta beat Stan Wawrinka: 7-5, 6-4
• Dusan Lajovic vs. Daniel Elahi Galan: tuesday
• Sebastian Baez (5) beat Corentin Moutet (Q): 6-4, 6-3
• Felipe Meligeni Alves beat Pedro Cachin: 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
• Jaume Munar beat Sebastian Ofner (8): 6-3, 6-1
• Thiago Seyboth Wild beat Alejandro Tabilo: 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Laslo Djere (6) beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles: 6-3, 6-1
• Cameron Norrie (2) beat Hugo Dellien: 6-3, 6-2
• Tomas Barrios Vera beat Gustavo Heide (WC): 7-5, 6-3
• Albert Ramos-Vinolas beat Juan Pablo Varillas: 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
• Francisco Cerundolo (4) beat Francisco Comesana (Q): 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
• Federico Coria vs. Mariano Navone
• Yannick Hanfmann vs. Nicolas Jarry
• Arthur Fils vs. Joao Fonseca
• Roberto Carballes Baena vs. Cristian Garin