World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz’s match against Brazilian Mateus Alves was interrupted by heavy rain on Tuesday at the ATP 500 in Rio, Brazil.
The Spaniard, defending champion, was stopped at 5-3, on his serve, in the second set, after winning the first 6-4 against a very combative opponent. Alves notably took advantage of the support of thousands of compatriots who came en masse to the Guga Kuerten court (6,200 seats) to encourage him.
Just rewarded with his 7th title, gleaned at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires last week, Alcaraz, seeded number 1, will resume the racket on Wednesday to finish the job. The six matches of the second day in progress or to be played, in order to define the posters for the round of 16, were interrupted around 8:58 p.m. local time (23:58 GMT). “No more matches today,” announced the Rio Open on Twitter.
Thiem eliminated, Norrie qualified
Earlier, the world number 12 Cameron Norrie qualified for the 8th by winning against the Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo (7-5, 6-1) and will meet there another Brazilian, Thiago Monteiro, scorer of his side of Dominic Thiem.
“I’m going to have to rest and improve my level today to be able to beat him,” analyzed Norrie, who could therefore find Carlos Alcaraz again after the lost final in Buenos Aires.
Bad weather has disrupted previous editions of the Rio tournament and the cancellations come as heavy rains battered Brazil over the weekend, killing at least 44 people in landslides.