The Spaniard exited early with a wrist injury
\n BARCELONA
\nWorld number two Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the Barcelona Open after damaging his right wrist, tournament organisers said on Wednesday. The \u200cSpaniard picked up the injury during a 6-4 6-2 first-round win over Otto Virtanen.
\nAlcaraz, the top seed, was scheduled to face Czech Tomas Machac in the second round. \u201cAfter the tests, we\u2019ve realised that the injury is more serious than any of us expected, and I need to listen to my body to ensure it doesn\u2019t affect me in the future,\u201d Alcaraz told reporters.
\n\u201cI never like to withdraw from any tournament, and especially not this one. It is with great sadness that I have to return home to begin my recovery as soon as possible with my team, the doctors and the physio, and to be, \u200cor try to be, as fit as possible for the tournaments I have coming up.\u201d
\nA twice champion in Barcelona, Alcaraz had returned to competition 48 hours after losing the Monte Carlo Masters final to Jannik Sinner\u2013a defeat that dropped him behind the Italian to second in the world rankings.
\nThe 22-year-old Alcaraz is expected to return to action in Madrid and Rome as he builds towards the defence of his French Open title, beginning in Paris on May 24.
\nHe has compiled a 22-3 win-loss record this season, winning the Australian and Qatar Open titles.
\nJamie Murray retires
\nFormer doubles world number one Jamie Murray called time on his tennis career on Wednesday, hanging up his racket at 40 after a trophy-laden journey that included seven Grand Slam \u200ctitles and a Davis Cup triumph with his brother Andy.
\nThe older sibling of former top-ranked singles player Andy, Jamie announced his retirement after 36 years in the sport, capping a career that saw him reach the doubles world number one ranking in 2016.
\nJamie retires with 34 titles to his name, with a Grand Slam haul that includes doubles crowns at the Australian Open and U.S. Open in 2016. He also won five mixed doubles titles split between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
\n\u201cMy tennis journey comes to an end after 36 years. I feel very fortunate and privileged for all the amazing experiences this great sport has given me,\u201d Jamie said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Spaniard exited early with a wrist injury BARCELONA World number two Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the Barcelona Open after damaging his right wrist, tournament organisers said on Wednesday. The \u200cSpaniard picked up the injury during a 6-4 6-2 first-round win over Otto Virtanen. Alcaraz, the top seed, was scheduled to face Czech Tomas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-542200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n