Carlos Alcaraz will not get to avenge his final loss from last year’s Rio Open this time around. The World No.2 player had to bow out of the 2024 Rio Open after suffering an ankle injury during his first-round match against local player Thiago Monteiro. Depending on the severity of the Carlos Alcaraz injury, the young Spaniard’s Netflix Slam clash with Rafael Nadal this year may or may not be in doubt. Let’s explore.
Carlos Alcaraz entered the Rio Open as a top-seeded player. In his first match against Monteiro, Alcaraz won the first point before twisting his right ankle on the clay court. The score was 1-1, and Alcaraz tried to continue playing. However, he was unable to move and maneuver properly and Monteiro got a walkover. Alcaraz later spoke to the press explaining that it wasn’t very serious, but he will have to wait out to see how it progresses.
“I don’t know yet, that’s the truth. Tomorrow, I have the test of my ankle and let’s see if it’s something serious or not. I mean the physios told me that they think it’s not too serious. Well it was bad, it was bad because I felt bad. That was the first impression that I had. I was feeling pain once I fall down,” said Alcaraz to the press.
“The physios told me that they think that it’s not too serious.”
Alcaraz on the status of his ankle injury ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/8tscD6mFpl
— TENNIS (@Tennis) February 21, 2024
It is strange to see how the tables have turned so quickly, since in the Australian Open, Alcaraz got a walkover against Shang Jungcheng after the Chinese player retired hurt. After that, and before the Rio Open, Alcaraz played in the Argentina Open and he was completely fine. He lost in the semi-final by 6-7 (2-7), 3-6 to Nicolas Jarry, who, in turn, lost to Yannick Hanfmann on Tuesday at the Round of 32 clash in Rio Open.
Now, irrespective of how serious Alcaraz’s injury is, it is inconvenient for him at the moment to plan out his tennis calendar. That includes his big Netflix Clash with Rafael Nadal, which is supposed to take place on March 3. This is the streaming giant’s second foray into live sports after Netflix Cup for Golf.
Everyone, including both the Spaniards and their fans, is pumped for this Clash of the Titans. However, it is to note that Rafael Nadal has also been out due to injury.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner has been out for most of the year’s tennis tournaments owing to his micro tear on the hip. He was supposed to play in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open but bowed out of it too at the last minute. Nadal’s hip injury is what prevented the Netflix Clash from happening last year also.
With Nadal’s ailing condition and recovery still taking time as well as Carlos Alcaraz’s fresh ankle injury, will the Netflix Clash take place this year? Or will it be postponed again?
How could the Carlos Alcaraz injury impact the Netflix Slam clash?
Rafael Nadal has been improving with time. He is slated to play plenty of tournaments later this year, including the Indian Wells, The Roland Garros, and the Netflix Slam. The Carlos Alcaraz injury, although painful at the moment, is also likely to be remedied before long. This would indicate that unless any further injury takes place to either of them, the Netflix Slam should go as planned.
It will be a huge draw for Netflix viewers, especially now that both of them are coming out of their respective injuries and will be mainly playing without any major match practice. For the moment, all everyone can do is wait for both of these players to get better and expect a high-voltage match in March.
