Alcaraz pulls out with injury as Medjedovic ousts De Minaur; Jamie retires, Shelton sinks Blockx

Carlos Alcaraz withdrew on Wednesday from the Barcelona Open because of a wrist injury that troubled him in his first-round match, potentially casting doubt over his Roland Garros defence.

“I won’t be able to continue in the tournament,” Alcaraz told reporters a day after his win over Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen.

“I felt my wrist give out on a return during the match. After the tests, we saw that it’s a more serious injury than any of us expected, and I have to listen to my body so it doesn’t affect me in the future.”

It is the second time in three years injury has forced Alcaraz to withdraw from the Barcelona tournament. He won it 2022 and 2023, and finished runner-up to Holger Rune 12 months ago.

Alcaraz had been scheduled to face Tomas Machac on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz lost his world number one ranking this week following his defeat by Jannik Sinner in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday. He would have had a chance to regain it by winning the title in Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Serbian Hamad Medjedovic stunned world number seven Alex de Minaur with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the Barcelona Open round of 16 on Wednesday.

Medjedovic, ranked 88th in the world, broke for a 5-3 lead in the first set which he served out to love.

De Minaur broke and consolidated for a 3-0 advantage in the second set but the 22-year-old qualifier battled his way back, winning the last five games to secure two breaks and triumph.

The Australian committed five double faults on a difficult afternoon and converted only one of nine break points.

The 2023 Next Gen Finals champion will next face Nuno Borges after the Portuguese defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to progress to the last eight.

Elsewhere, Jamie Murray, who became the first British doubles player to be ranked world number one, announced his retirement from tennis on Wednesday at the age of 40.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion, who had not played since last August’s US Open, said he was “excited to enter the real world”.

“My tennis journey comes to an end after 36 years,” Murray, the older brother of British singles tennis great Andy, posted on Instagram.

“I feel very fortunate and privileged for all the amazing experiences this great sport has given me.”

“Thanks Mum, Dad, Andy, Ale, Alan, Louis and Thomas for all your incredible support, efforts and sacrifices throughout my career that allowed me to achieve everything I could in the game,” the Scot added.

“For everybody else that’s helped and supported me -- I appreciate all of you!”

Murray won two of his 34 doubles titles with Andy, and they joined forces in style as Britain won the Davis Cup in 2015 for the first time in 79 years.

Andy Murray, a three-time major singles champion, was in his brother’s coaching box to take photos of Jamie’s first Grand Slam men’s doubles title at the 2016 Australian Open.

It was in the early hours of the morning and Andy was due to play Novak Djokovic in the singles final in Melbourne just 18 hours later.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Jamie joked, as he accepted the trophy alongside Brazil’s Bruno Soares.

The duo added the US Open title later that year and finished 2016 as the world’s number one-ranked doubles team, with Andy Murray also topping the singles rankings.

Jamie Murray also won five mixed doubles titles, including two at Wimbledon -- with Jelena Jankovic in 2007 and Martina Hingis 10 years later.

Earlier, American second seed Ben Shelton is through to the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Munich after beating Belgian Alexander Blockx 6-4, 7-6 (10/8) on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Belgian wildcard, ranked 72nd in the world, pushed the world number six deep into a second-set tie-break but Shelton dug in to hold him at bay and secure victory in just over one hour and 45 minutes.

Agencies