Britain’s Cam Norrie is out of the French Open after retiring injured when a set and a break down in his round one contest against the unseeded Adolfo Daniel Vallejo.
Norrie, who was seeded 20 and came into the contest with a rib injury, missed four chances to win the opening set before losing a tie-break 9-7 to Paraguay’s Adolfo Vallejo.
He lasted only two more games after that setback, shaking hands with his opponent when 2-0 down in the second set.
Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev struggled in a five-set loss to 97th-ranked Australian opponent Adam Walton.
Walton, who received a wildcard invitation from tournament organisers, beat Medvedev 6-2 1-6 6-1 1-6 6-4.
“It’s huge,” Walton said of the victory in his on-court interview, adding a win over Medvedev in Cincinnati last year had given him the confidence to repeat the feat.
“I knew I could do it and I believed, so I’m just happy with my performance. I’m really excited right now.
“I’m pretty tired right now. It was such an up-and-down match. I got off to a hot start, and I felt like the ebbs and flows of the match were quite large today. I’m just really proud of my efforts in the fifth set, to come from a break down to get the win.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up to Novak Djokovic, was leading 6-2 3-0 against Alexandre Muller when his French opponent retired. Muller wiped away tears as he left the court and later said he injured his right calf, three months after injuring his left calf.
French teenager Moïse Kouamé made the perfect start to his French Open career with a 7-6 (4) 6-2 6-1 win against veteran Marin Cilic.
The 17-year-old Kouamé won one day after the 39-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils made his last appearance at Roland Garros.
He raised his arms in triumph and tilted his head back after defeating the 37-year-old Cilic, who won the 2014 U.S. Open, finished runner-up at two other majors, and reached the French Open semifinals in 2022.
The ATP Tour said No. 318-ranked Kouamé became the first man born in 2008 or later to win a Grand Slam match, and the crowd on a sun-baked Court Simonne-Mathieu showed their appreciation by chanting “Mo-ïse! Mo-ïse! Mo-ïse!” and clapping in-between.
“It’s not easy to stay in the present without thinking of the score,” Kouamé said. “It wouldn’t have been possible without the huge help you (the crowd) gave me.”
In March, he became the youngest winner in Miami Masters history when he beat Zachary Svajda in the first round – earning a congratulatory message from Djokovic.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
