No British men reach French Open second round
· Yahoo Sports
British interest in the French Open men's singles ended on Tuesday after Cameron Norrie retired with injury and Jacob Fearnley lost in straight sets.
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British number one Norrie had never quit a top-level match in his career but decided he could not continue in his first-round match against Paraguay's Adolfo Daniel Vallejo.
Norrie suffered a rib injury in the build-up to Paris and shook hands with the 71st-ranked Vallejo, 22, when trailing 7-6 (9-7) 2-0.
It was the first time since 2014 that Norrie retired from a match - and that came at a Futures event on the lowest rung of professional tennis.
"It takes a big mental effort to play matches like this when you're not fully fit," said Norrie, 30.
"You see Rafa [Nadal], how well he did in being able to put the pain aside.
"It was starting to bother me on every shot, so it was about how can I just play tennis and not think about it every shot.
"That was the challenge and I was not able to do that."
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Nadal is known as the 'King of Clay' after winning 14 French Open title but is just as well known for the resilience he showed in fighting through injury in the biggest moments.
Former world number eight Norrie has forged a reputation as the iron man of British tennis, possessing an endurance and work ethic rivalled by few others.
But he has learned a harsh lesson after pushing himself too hard in the past few weeks.
Norrie says he does not regret playing a five-set practice match against American world number six Ben Shelton in Monte Carlo a fortnight ago.
However, he did acknowledge he should have retired from his match at last week's Geneva Open when an inflamed rib joint bothered him during a defeat by Argentina's Mario Navone.
Norrie was subsequently unable to practice properly at Roland Garros until Monday but felt he had "to give it a go" against world number 71 Vallejo.
"Maybe I could get through the match, but then at what cost? Something else could have happened," Norrie said.
"For me, I'm not that interested in making third round. I'm trying to go fourth round, quarters, semis for the first time.
"It was tough for me in the first round, but that's why I took that decision."
Fearnley, the British number four, joined Norrie and British qualifier Toby Samuel in exiting in the first round.
Despite a positive start, in which he broke 56th-ranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the opening game, Fearnley found himself two sets behind before he was able to land another blow on the Argentine's serve.
When he did so for a 4-2 third-set lead, he committed back-to-back double faults to gifted Cerundolo an immediate route back.
Fearnley, who reached the third round last year as he continued a rapid rise up the rankings from outside the top 500 in 2024, withstood three break points in his next service game - but eventually conceded a second match point in a tight tie-break as Cerundolo completed a 6-2 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (9-7) victory.
Katie Boulter and Francesca Jones are through to the second round in the women's draw, but former US Open champion Emma Raducanu suffered an early exit.
In the doubles, men's third seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool won 6-3 7-6 (7-5) against Ecuador's Gonzalo Escobar and Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer.
But Boulter and Kazakh partner Yulia Putintseva lost 6-1 7-6 (7-5) to seventh seeds Demi Schuurs and Ellen Perez.
Norrie plays safe with Wimbledon around the corner
Norrie took the court on a sweltering afternoon in Paris and kept in touch with Vallejo for much of the first set.
However, the Briton struggled to move after missing four set points in a tight tie-break and going a break down at the start of the second.
Norrie called for the doctor and the trainer after losing his serve, pointing at his rib as he sat in the shade.
He told his team "every serve is a struggle" but attempted to continue, before ending proceedings midway through his next service game.
Even though Norrie believed he had enough to compete "at 20%", he did not want to risk further damage with Wimbledon around the corner.
Norrie will return to London on Wednesday and go for a scan to determine the extent of the issue.
However, the 2022 Wimbledon semi-finalist remains confident he will be fit to start the British grass season at Queen's in a fortnight.
"It's far better not to exacerbate the injury problem and get back to the UK, have rest and treatment on it, and then start building up to Wimbledon," former British number Annabel Croft said on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.
"We've heard from [Novak] Djokovic that his body doesn't respond as well as it used to and into his thirties it was getting more difficult for his body to respond.
"This sport is so demanding and I can see why Norrie would have overtrained."