Carlos Alcaraz announced that he will undergo tests on an ankle injury that caused him to withdraw from his Rio Open first-round match.
Alcaraz, the top seed, seemed to injure his ankle early in the match against Thiago Monteiro and received treatment.
Despite trying to keep playing, he decided to retire when the score was tied at 1-1.
“Tomorrow I’ll have a test for my ankle, and let’s see if it’s something serious or not,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference afterwards.
“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.”
Alcaraz reached the finals in Rio twice, winning the tournament in 2022 and losing to Cameron Norrie the following year.
The two-time Grand Slam winner is set to play against fellow countryman and tennis legend Rafael Nadal in an exhibition match in Las Vegas on March 3.
“I hope to be ready for the match,” he added. “And I will work to be ready. But I don’t know yet. That’s the truth.
“The physio told me that they think that it’s not serious. So I think I have time to recover and be ready for that match.
“But, you know, you never know. So let’s see.”
In other matches at the Rio tournament, Yannick Hanfmann surprised the third seed, Nicolas Jarry, and Chile’s Cristian Garin also made it to the last 16 by defeating Roberto Carballes Baena.
Alcaraz will try to retain his Indian Wells title in March.
