Carlos Alcaraz, the world number two, retired from his first-round match against Thiago Monteiro on Tuesday after twisting his right ankle on only the second point.
The Spanish star took a medical timeout, bandaged his ankle and won the opening game, but after missing his serve in the second game, he retired, adding to his disappointing 2024 campaign.
Alcaraz told reporters shortly after the game that his decision to retire was made as a “precaution” and that the physiotherapists who examined him had said the injury “is not serious.”
“I spoke with the physiotherapist on the court and we decided, together, that I would continue to see if it improved. It didn’t, so we preferred to be careful and withdraw as a precaution,” Alcaraz said, adding that he will undergo more tests on Wednesday.
The two-time Grand Slam winner’s rough start to 2024 includes a four-set loss to Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open quarterfinals.
He lost to 21st-ranked Chilean Nicolas Jarry in the semi-finals of the Buenos Aires Open on Saturday and he hasn’t won an ATP trophy since defeating Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in July.
Expectations that his performance would start to improve in Rio, where he won the trophy in 2022 and came in second to Cameron Norrie of Britain last year, were quickly shattered.