Carlos Alcaraz will undergo tests today to discover the severity of the ankle injury that forced his withdrawal from the Rio Open.
The world number two had to retire from his first-round encounter with Thiago Monteiro after two games after twisting his ankle in just the second point.
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“Tomorrow I’ll have a test for my ankle and let’s see if it’s something serious or not,” said the Spaniard.
“I felt bad. That was the first impression I had. I was feeling pain once I fell down, so I thought it was going to be difficult to continue if I was still having those feelings.
“After a few points it didn’t feel better. 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 chose to retire.”
Feel better soon and come back stronger 🫶@CARLOSALCARAZ retires in Rio while facing Thiago Monteiro. @RIOOPENOFICIAL | #RIOOPEN10ANOS PIC.TWITTER.COM/SYBDAGQLYQ
— ATP Tour (@atptour) FEBRUARY 21, 2024
The next significant tournament on the schedule is the Masters event in Indian Wells that gets underway on March 6 with Alcaraz the defending champion.
He is also due to face compatriot Rafael Nadal in ‘The Netflix Slam’ – an exhibition event in Las Vegas on March 3.
Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals at the season’s first grand slam event, the Australian Open, before losing to Germany’s Alexander Zverev.