Carlos Alcaraz had mixed emotions after being gifted a route into the second round of the US Open because his opponent retired injured.
Dominik Koepfer rolled his ankle in the opening game of the match and needed a medical time out to have it heavily bandaged.
He valiantly carried on, at one point telling the chair umpire: “I’m trying not to retire after 20 minutes because of freaking 20,000 people in the stadium.” But the 29-year-old was clearly in a lot of pain and called it a night with Alcaraz leading 6-2 3-2.
Carlos Alcaraz is into Round 2 after a retirement by Dominik Koepfer. pic.twitter.com/0qPdd5Hr59 — US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 30, 2023 Defending champion Alcaraz said: “Obviously I want to play battles.
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