RIO DE JANEIRO.- The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz He said this Wednesday that he will play the friendly against his compatriot Rafael Nadal in Las Vegas and the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells in March, because the injury that took him out of the Rio Open on Tuesday will keep him out for just “a few days.”
“I just had an MRI on my ankle after yesterday’s injury (…), the diagnosis is a grade II lateral sprain. I have a sprain that will keep me out for a few days! See you in Las Vegas and Indian Wells!” wrote the 20-year-old Iberian on his Instagram account.
Alcaraz, number 2 in the world ranking, set off the alarm when he sprained his right foot in the dispute of the second point of the match that took place on Tuesday night against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (117), on the clay of the Jockey Club of the city postcard from Brazil.
After being bandaged and assisted, he returned to the center court of the main tennis tournament in South America (ATP 500) and won the first game of his debut in the first round.
But in the second, after Monteiro broke his serve, he left the court limping and showing signs of pain, leaving him with no chance of winning another crown in the competition, after the one obtained in 2022.
Despite the concern that his retirement caused, especially in the stands where his work group was, Alcaraz reassured minutes later by saying in a press conference that the physiotherapists had told him that it was not a “serious” injury.
Alcaraz’s bad streak continues:
The abandonment increased the disappointment for Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil at the beginning of 2024: he fell in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January and in the semifinals of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires on Saturday, accumulating seven months without winning a title.
And it came at a time when the Italian Jannik Sinner, champion in Australia, is approaching second place in the ATP world rankings.
After the diagnosis, the Murcian will be able to defend his place and the title won in 2023 in Indian Wells, which will be held from March 3 to 17.
On March 3 he will play a friendly match with Nadal in the American city of Las Vegas.
Source: AFP
