Carlos Alcaraz retires just TWO GAMES into his first-round match at the Rio Open as the reigning Wimbledon champion picks up an ankle problem in Brazil

Reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz left the Rio Open on Tuesday after just two matches due to a right ankle injury.

Due to Alcaraz’s injury at 1-1, Brazilian Thiago Monteiro advanced to the second round, where he will play a duel with Felipe Meligeni Alves for a place in the quarter-finals.

The two-time grand champion Alcaraz twisted his ankle after two points in the first match.

He received medical attention, broke Monteiro’s serve, but after the Brazilian leveled, he shook his rival’s hand and walked off the court as his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero appeared concerned.

“This is so strange, it was the second point of the match,” Monteiro said later during a press conference.

‘On the pitch it didn’t look that serious, but when I saw it on the big screen it was a bad turn of events.

“Now I can only applaud that he is recovering, he is a star, a dominant one in the new generation.”

Alcaraz was second at the clay tournament in Rio de Janeiro last year and winner in 2022.

The injury contributes to Alcaraz’s underperformance at the Argentina Open last week.

The 20-year-old, who won the title in 2023, was eliminated in the semi-finals in Buenos Aires by Chilean Nicolás Jarry.

Earlier, three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka was defeated in the first round 7-5, 6-4 by the Argentinian Facundo Díaz Acosta.

23-year-old Díaz Acosta defeated Jarry in the final and won his first title at the Argentina Open on Sunday.

Tuesday’s match was postponed for almost two hours due to rain in Rio de Janeiro. Diaz Acosta’s next opponent will be his compatriot Sebastián Báez.