Alcaraz suffers injury and misses out on the second Rio Open – 02/26/2023 – Sport

The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, 19, saw slipping from his hands this Sunday (27) the chance to become the first two-time champion of the Rio Open.

He felt again a muscle injury in his right thigh and ended up defeated in the decision by the British Cameron Norrie, 27, by 2 sets to 1 (5/7, 6/4 and 7/5) after 2h41m of departure, on the Guga Kuerten court.

Often named as the great successor of fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal due to his trajectory, Alcaraz fought as hard as he could, pushed by the support of the Brazilian crowd.

He has a great bond with the public in Rio, after all, it was in Rio that he won his first ATP-level game, in 2020, and two years later he became the youngest tennis player to win an ATP 500 tournament.

This time, he was looking to reach the top of the ATP rankings again. After becoming the youngest in the sport to top the list in September last year, aged 19, he had a chance to touch the top again if he had won the title.

The Spaniard would match Serbia’s Novak Djokovic with 6,980 points in the world ranking. In the tiebreaker criteria, however, the Serb would remain number one in the world. He scored most in the so-called mandatory events: ATP Finals, Grand Slams and Masters 1000.

Alcaraz, however, had his walk hampered in November last year, when he suffered from injuries.

The absence of the courts left the way clear for the Serbian Novak Djokovic to move him from the top of the world ranking.

Number 13 on the list, Norrie is often one of Alcaraz’s biggest victims. Until this Sunday, he had beaten his rival only once in four clashes.

This time, he got a rematch after losing to the Spaniard last week in the ATP 250 final in Buenos Aires.

The title in Argentina was the seventh of the Spaniard’s career and marked his recovery from injuries.

Marcelo Melo and Colombian lose doubles final

In a game that lasted until the early hours of this Sunday, Marcelo Melo lost his chance to be the first Brazilian champion of the Rio Open. Alongside Colombian Juan Sebastian Cabal, he was defeated in the doubles final by Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni by 2 sets to 0, with partials of 6/1 and 7/6 (3).

Melo is once again runner-up in the tournament after the defeat in 2014 precisely to a team formed by his current partner. In 2016, Cabal won the competition acting alongside Robert Farah.

The miner regretted another runner-up at home. “Of course when you’re playing at home you want to win more and that causes a bit of anxiety,” he said.

At the age of 39, the tennis player said that he still doesn’t think about stopping, he wants to try again for the title in Rio, but that’s his other goal right now. “Every tournament I finish I hope to come back, but my biggest focus is next year’s Olympics,” he said.

Marcelo Melo has 36 titles in his career, but has yet to be successful at the Rio Open. Brazil has already been in the decision with Bruno Soares alongside Jamie Murray, in 2022, and Thomaz Bellucci with Rogério Dutra Silva in 2019. The country is still looking for its first trophy at home in singles or doubles.