WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz crashes out of Rio with a nasty ankle injury that leaves exhibition match with Rafael Nadal in jeopardy

Carlos Alcaraz is going through a really bad phase in his career currently. The Spaniard had already been struggling with his poor form for the last few months, and to make things worse, he has now suffered an ankle injury, which brought his campaign in the Rio Open to an early end. 

Alcaraz was playing against Thiago Monteiro in the first round of the Rio Open when he rolled his ankle very early in the match. After that, he was not particularly happy with his movements and decided to take no risks and give it a walkover.

With the Indian Wells set to start in about a month’s time, the Spaniard definitely did not want to take any risk, and thus it was perhaps the correct decision to end the match then and there. 

However, it raises a lot of concerns about the exhibition match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz called the ‘Netflix Slam’ that is supposed to be played in Las Vegas on March 3 and streamed on Netflix. Earlier, it was supposed that Rafael Nadal might be the one pulling out of this match, but the young Spaniard has an equal likelihood of doing the same now. 

Both Nadal and Alcaraz are currently out injured and will focus on returning at the 2024 Indian Wells. Nadal, for example, has already assured his fans that he will be playing in the Indian Wells. Thus, it seems very plausible that if the ‘Netflix Slam’ comes in the way of them participating in the Indian Wells, they will avoid it. 

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Rafael Nadal head-to-head

Fans were really excited for the exhibition match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, who is widely renowned as the most worthy successor to the 22-time Grand Slam winner. The two players have played a total of three matches against each other, with Nadal winning two of those matches and Alcaraz winning one. 

If the match somehow takes place, Carlos Alcaraz will now be without the added advantage of being match-fit because he too will be coming out of an injury. Moreover, the 2-time Grand Slam winner has not been in great form lately. He recently lost to Nicolas Jarry in the semifinal of the Argentina Open, a tournament he should ideally have won without any struggle. Thus, the clash between the two will be interesting to watch. 

Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion of Indian Wells, while Rafael Nadal won the tournament in 2022 when he last took part in it. If the match indeed does happen, it will also set the tone for the Indian Wells. 

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