After hitting a forehand return, Alcaraz was moving laterally back towards the centre of the court when Monteiro went back in behind him. 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, according to tournament website.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With Monteiro\u2019s help, the Spaniard 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Tomorrow I\u2019ll have a test for my ankle and let's see if it's something serious or not,\u201d Alcaraz said. \"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\u2019s why I choose to retire.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Alcaraz, who made his ATP Tour debut in Rio in 2020, won the title in 2022 and finished runner-up to Cameron Norrie in 2023.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The injury setback will not help the Spaniard in his battle to defend the No. 2 ATP Ranking from surging Italian Jannik Sinner. The reigning Wimbledon champion leads Sinner by just 535 points and has 1000 points to defend next month as the defending champion at the Paribas Open in Indian Wells.<\/p>\r\n\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2024\/02\/alcaraz-suffers-ankle-injury-in-rio-opener-retires-after-two-games.jpeg", "alt_img": "Alcaraz suffers ankle injury in Rio opener, retires after two games", "alt_title": "Australian Open: Alcaraz beats Gasquet; Fils, Michelsen earn debut wins", "image1": null, "video": null, "seo_title": "Alcaraz Suffers Ankle Injury In Rio Opener, Retires After Two Games On Cricketnmore", "seo_desc": "Alcaraz Suffers Ankle Injury In Rio Opener, Retires After Two Games, Italian Jannik Sinner: Top seed Carlos Alcaraz suffered an ankle injury just two points into his Rio Open opening-round match.", "seo_keywords": "Carlos Alcaraz, Rio Open, Thiago Monteiro, The Spaniard, With Monteiro, Alejandro Resnicoff, ATP Tour, Cameron Norrie, ATP Ranking, Italian Jannik Sinner, Paribas Open, Indian Wells", "tag": "", "tagging": "Carlos Alcaraz, Rio Open, Thiago Monteiro, The Spaniard, With Monteiro, Alejandro Resnicoff, ATP Tour, Cameron Norrie, ATP Ranking, Italian Jannik Sinner, Paribas Open, Indian Wells", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "1", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": null, "slug": "alcaraz-suffers-ankle-injury-in-rio-opener-retires-after-two-games", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": null, "ians_time": null, "server_time": null, "trash": "0", "view_count": "740", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "1", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2024-02-21 09:20:02", "updated": "2024-02-21 09:20:02", "img_from": "Image Source: IANS", "img_source": null, "schedule_publish": null, "news_keywords": "Carlos Alcaraz, Rio Open, Thiago Monteiro, The Spaniard, With Monteiro, Alejandro Resnicoff, ATP Tour, Cameron Norrie, ATP Ranking, Italian Jannik Sinner, Paribas Open, Indian Wells", "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "1", "google_feed": "1", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "23", "jio_date": "2024-02-21 09:20:02", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "0", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": null, "featured": "0", "sports_name": "tennis", "cnmid": "869334", "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/sports-news\/alcaraz-suffers-ankle-injury-in-rio-opener-retires-after-two-games-13404" }