Having come second to Cameron Norrie in last year’s competition, the two-time winner of major tennis tournaments had hoped for another successful run at the ATP 500 event. Unfortunately, his campaign came to an abrupt end after only 18 minutes of play and two completed games. The incident occurred during the second point of the match when Alcaraz attempted to change direction after Monteiro returned the ball to his left side. Unfortunately, Alcaraz’s right ankle got caught in the clay court, causing him to roll his ankle in a painful manner. The world No 2 immediately collapsed to the ground, clearly in agony. Monteiro, his Brazilian opponent, had to assist him back to his bench, where he received treatment from ATP physio Alejandro Resnicoff, who applied a strap to his injured ankle. Despite the swelling, the physio assured Alcaraz that the injury was not too severe and encouraged him to continue playing. However, Alcaraz ultimately decided to retire from the match with the score tied at 1-1. He left the court without crutches, but was seen limping as he exited and eventually departed in a golf cart. Alcaraz’s next scheduled event is an exhibition match against Rafael Nadal in Las Vegas on March 3, followed by the Indian Wells Open, where he is the defending champion. He will have just over two weeks to recover from his ankle injury before the ATP Masters 1000 tournament begins on March 6. It is worth noting that Alcaraz has not yet reached a final in 2024, having lost to Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and to Nicolas Jarry in the semi-finals of the Argentina Open last week.
According to the Source tennis365.com