British No 1 Cameron Norrie retired from his first-round match at the French Open while trailing Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo and struggling with a pre-tournament rib injury.
Norrie, the 20th seed in the men’s singles draw, revealed the issue on the eve of Roland Garros, following a lengthy five-hour practice match with fifth seed Ben Shelton.
He lost the first set against Vallejo on a tiebreak and retired while trailing 2-0 in the second set, with his fitness now a concern before Wimbledon and the grass-court season.
One of the toughest competitors in the sport, the first retirement of the 30-year-old’s career is also a further blow to British tennis, with Jack Draper missing the entire clay-court season due to a knee injury.
Emma Raducanu’s first-round defeat to Solana Sierra came after missing a long spell due to post-viral symptoms, while Sonay Kartal is also currently sidelined with a back issue.
Norrie said during his pre-tournament press conference on Saturday that he had been unable to hit since arriving in Paris, having possibly over-trained.
The former Wimbledon semi-finalist revealed he and Shelton had played a “crazy” five-set practice match on clay earlier this month, before his first-round exit from Geneva.
“But I think I needed the rest, so maybe it’s a good thing,” he had said following the French Open draw. “Luckily I’m scheduled on Tuesday, so I have some time to recover. Hopefully I can be good to play.”
It leaves Jacob Fearnley as the only British man in the singles draw, with Katie Boulter and Fran Jones through to the second-round on the women’s side. Fearnley will begin his campaign against Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo later on Tuesday.
Vallejo, the world No 70, who will next play history-making 17-year-old Moise Kouame, who became the youngest player to reach the second-round of Roland Garros since 1991 with his victory over Marin Cilic.
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