World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz played just two points in his opening-round match at the Rio Open on Tuesday before being forced to retire with an ankle injury.
It's a brutal blow for a player who hasn't won an ATP tournament since his thrilling five-set win over Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last July. But the 20-year-old shared excellent news to his Instagram on Wednesday afternoon.
“I just had an MRI on my ankle after yesterday’s injury. After the meeting with my doctor [Lopez Martinez] and my physiotherapists [Juanjo Moreno] and [Sergio Hernandez] the diagnosis is a grade II lateral sprain,” the tennis phenom wrote.
“I have a sprain that will keep me out for a few days! See you in Las Vegas and Indian Wells!”
The fact that Alcaraz will be healthy for Indian Wells — an ATP Masters 1000 tournament that he won for the first time in 2023 — is fantastic news for both him and the tennis world in general.
Carlos Alcaraz avoided a serious ailment vs. Thiago Monteiro
Alcaraz suffered the injury against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, and had to retire despite trying his best to continue the match.
“After hitting a forehand return from the Ad court, Alcaraz was moving laterally back towards the centre of the court when Monteiro went back in behind him,” wrote ATPTour.com.
“The Spaniard planted his right foot to halt his momentum, but his right ankle rolled badly and he fell to the ground on his backside. With Monteiro’s help, the World No. 2 made his way back to his bench and had his ankle heavily strapped by ATP physio Alejandro Resnicoff. He returned to the court and broke the Brazilian to take a 1-0 lead. But his movement was compromised and he retired after dropping serve in the next game.”
Alcaraz won the Rio Open in 2022, and lost in a thrilling three-set battle to Cameron Norrie in last year's final. He will surely be back in 2025. And Monteiro was a great sport, sharing high praise and concern for his counterpart after the short match.
“This is so strange, it was the second point of the match. 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.”
Carlos Alcaraz will be back, and even despite his current struggles and injury troubles, he remains one of the favorites in California come March.
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