Alcaraz Injures Right Ankle, Retires From Rio Open After Only Two Games

Carlos Alcaraz, Rio Open, ATP Tour
Carlos Alcaraz (photo: Rio Open/Fotojump)

RIO DE JANEIRO/WASHINGTON, February 21, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

The Rio Open presented by Claro has provided 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz plenty of wonderful memories over the years. He made his ATP Tour debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2020, won the 2022 title and finished runner-up last year to this year’s No. 2 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain.

However, one memory the World No. 2 from Spain would just as soon forget happened only two points into his first-round match against 117th-ranked Brazilian wild card Thiago Monteiro at the Jockey Club Brasileiro Tuesday evening.

That’s because on the second point of the match, Alcaraz lost his balance and rolled his right ankle. It happened very quickly and it was painful to watch. After hitting a forehand return from the baseline, Alcaraz began to move laterally toward the center of the court. Once he planted his right foot, as Monteiro struck a return back to Alcaraz’s left, his right ankle rolled and he fell to the ground in obvious discomfort. The grimace on the young Spaniard’s face spoke volumes as Monteiro helped him back to his bench.

Although play resumed after a lengthy interruption, in which Alcaraz received medical treatment and had his injured right ankle heavily taped, it became quite obvious that he was having trouble with his movement about the court.

After an exchange of service breaks, the Spaniard retired just 18 minutes into the match. It was Monteiro’s second straight win over Alcaraz following a 2021 win at the Melbourne-1 ATP 250 event.

“This is so strange, it was the second point of the match,” Monteiro said, quoted by the ATP Tour website. “On the court it didn’t look so serious, but then I saw it in the big screen and it was a bad twist. Now I can only cheer for him to recover, he is a star, a dominant one in the new generation.”

Next, Monteiro will face 153rd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves, who defeated No. 76 Pedro Cachin of Argentina, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in an hour and 56 minutes, for his first win against a Top 100 opponent.

Alcaraz: “I knew it was going to be impossible to continue.”

Looking back, Alcaraz’s 2024 Rio Open was about as short-lived as it could be: a total of 11 points and an injury retirement. Thinking long term, it made sense for Alcaraz to retire as a precaution. Obviously, he doesn’t want to do further harm. Not to mention, Alcaraz’s injury won’t help him to defend his No. 2 ranking. Currently he leads the surging No. 3 Jannik Sinner of Italy by 535 points and will soon have 1,000 points to defend as reigning champion at Indian Wells, which begins in two weeks.

Carlos Alcaraz, ATP Tour, Rio Open

Carlos Alcaraz (photo: Rio Open/Fotojump)

“Tomorrow I’ll have a test for my ankle and let’s see if it’s something serious or not,” Alcaraz said in his news conference, quoted by the ATP Tour website. “Both my physio [Juanjo Moreno] and the ATP’s physio said it’s probably not too serious. But, you know, you never know. So let’s see.

“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.

“The physio told me to continue a few games and see how I was feeling. 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.”

Buenos Aires champ Diaz Acosta extends winning streak to six

In the preliminary to the short-lived Alcaraz-Monteiro main event, 67th-ranked Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka looked to break a five-match winning streak of his opening round opponent, No. 59 Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina. Playing for the first time in Brazil, the 38-year-old Wawrinka would become the oldest player to win a match in tournament history, if successful. Meanwhile, Diaz Acosta, 15 years his junior, aimed to extend his 7-1 record in February following his title run last week in Buenos Aires.

As it turned out, it was Diaz Acosta who triumphed over Wawrinka, 7-5, 6-4, in an hour and 54 minutes – following a three-hour rain delay at the start – to extend his winning streak to six.

“I was very happy for my first title last week and now to play a legend like Stan is unbelievable,” Diaz Acosta said, quoted by the ATP Tour website.

“I was a little bit nervous and after the emotional week it took me a little time to get my focus and adjust to the conditions, which we not so similar. It lasted a little bit but I got used to it at the right time, so I am very happy.”

Diaz Acosta won the first set 7-5 after breaking Wawrinka twice from 4-5 down. The Argentine lefty benefited from 20 unforced errors by Wawrinka and saved four of the five break points he faced during the 58-minute opening set.

Then, Diaz Acosta opened a double-break 3-0 lead to start the second set and turned the match on its head after winning six straight games before Wawrinka got one of the breaks back. By then, it was too late to turn the match round. Diaz Acosta closed out the win with a third-shot forehand winner, his 12th winner overall. Although Wawrinka hit 23 winners – 11 of them with his one-fisted backhand – he was undone by 37 unforced errors and outpointed by Diaz Acosta 76-70.

Next, Diaz Acosta will face No. 5 seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina, ranked 30th, who advanced with a solid 6-4, 6-3 win over 147th-ranked French qualifier Corentin Moutet. Baez broke Moutet’s serve four times and outpointed his opponent 71-57.

Defending champion Norrie begins with solid victory

The 10th edition of Rio Open presented by Claro began Monday with a 32-player that included four former champions of the event, led by the top seed and 2022 champion Alcaraz and No. 2 seed and 2023 champion Norrie.

Last year, Norrie defeated Alcaraz in the title match to prevent him from becoming the first player to win Rio multiple times.

The 23rd-ranked Norrie began defense of his Rio title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 135 Hugo Dellien of Bolivia on Monday. He saved the only break point he faced and converted three of seven break-point chances to advance against No. 120 Tomas Barrios Vera of Chile, who eliminated 236th-ranked Brazilian wild card Gustavo Heide, 7-5, 6-3.

Around the Jockey Club Brasileiro

With rain delaying the start of play on all courts by three hours, the final singles match of the evening, between No. 7 seed Arthur Fils of France and wild card João Fonseca of Brazil, was rescheduled for Wednesday. All doubles play on the outer courts were also scrubbed.

Tuesday’s Rio Open results

Wednesday’s Rio Open order of play

By the numbers

Five Brazilians made the main draw of the first ATP 500 clay court event of the season, setting a record for most in tournament history (the previous best was four in 2017 and 2023) and most in any ATP Tour event since 2018 Sao Paulo. They are led by Brazilian No. 1 Thiago Seyboth Wild, and joined by wild cards Thiago Monteiro, Gustavo Heide and 17-year-old João Fonseca and qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves.

“Quotable …”

“Good sensations, good feelings on this court. You said it was pretty straightforward, but I was absolutely dripping sweat. So it’s never easy out here.”

“I think I managed my service games really well. I served much better than last week and I was a bit more patient and knew I had to play point for point and really make the rallies a bit longer. I think I learned from last week with that, and just happy to be back in Brazil.”

— Defending champion Cameron Norrie, quoted by the ATP Tour website, following his first-round win Monday.

 

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