Kyle Edmund is out of the French Open after retiring during his second-round match with Pablo Cuevas.
It was a curiously passive performance from Edmund in the opening two sets and, after going 2-1 down in the third set, the British number one called the doctor.
It was not immediately obvious what was wrong but, after a lengthy chat, Edmund shook his head and then the hand of Cuevas.
Not to be for Kyle Edmund in round 2 of the #FrenchOpen retiring in the 3rd set with Cuevas leading 7-6(3), 6-3, 2-1.#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/qSxLQ0Mifd — LTA (@the_LTA) May 30, 2019
Edmund ended a five-match losing run with an impressive five-set victory over Jeremy Chardy in the first round and had been looking to reach round three for the third year in a row.
Cuevas, ranked 47, is a classic clay-court specialist and has had a lot of match wins on the surface this season, including reaching the final of the ATP Tour event in Estoril last month.
But Edmund has bigger weapons, especially with his booming forehand, so it was a surprise to see him on the back foot for most of the contest.
He began poorly, dropping serve in the second game, but retrieved the break to level at 4-4 and withstood pressure from Cuevas to force a tie-break.
He had played a fine tie-break in his opening match against Chardy but this one was a different story, and things did not improve in the second set, where he lost the last four games.
It was not obvious that Edmund, who struggled with a knee injury for the first two months of the season, was having physical difficulties but it was clear he was frustrated, the 24-year-old slamming a ball down and shouting at himself after being broken in the seventh game of the second set.
Whatever the problem, it was clearly serious enough for Edmund to feel he could not continue, and Cuevas recorded a 7-6 (3) 6-3 2-1 victory.
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