Kyle Edmund quits the French Open with a knee injury after falling two sets down
KYLE EDMUND has quit his French Open second-round clash with Pablo Cuevas due to a knee injury.
The British No 1 tennis player found himself 2-0 sets down to the Uruguayan on Court 6 at Roland Garros and struggling for any rhythm or decent form.
Yet when Cuevas went off for a toilet break, Edmund used the opportunity to call for the trainer for a quick chat.
After a brief discussion, he decided to retire from his match at 7-6 6-3 2-1 down following one hour and 46 minutes of action.
It is a sad way to end his French Open, especially after he had shown character to beat Jeremy Chardy in the first round in front of a partisan French crowd.
Their four-hour clash was the longest match Edmund had played in his career.
The No 28 seed had come into Paris on the back of five straight defeats and experiencing one of his worst ever seasons on clay.
Edmund had never won any of his previous 13 matches when he had fallen two-sets down and whatever the issue, he clearly did not have the stomach to carry on the fight.
MARATHON OUTING
Edmund had hoped to join Jo Konta in the third round, which would have been the first time since the 1982 French Open (John Lloyd and Virginia Wade) when a British man and woman reached that stage in the same year.
It is not known at this stage if the injury will affect his preparations for Wimbledon but it's fair to say he is bereft of any confidence and many will fear he will not have any impact on grass next month.
Certainly he will need to be careful that his seeding for Wimbledon is not affected before the draw next month.
Eurosport tennis expert Annabel Croft, the former British No.1, said: "Having watched most of the match, I wasn’t aware there was any particular injury problem.
"Other than that the match was moving away from him and he was less able to get behind the ball and really do damage with the forehand side.
MOST READ IN SPORT
"But he did look mentally a little bit fatigued and a little bit flat – and I saw him eating a chocolate biscuit at one point during the change of ends.
"He clearly doesn’t want to damage that knee any further.
"And he has had viral problems, niggly problems over the last six or twelve months. So it’s been a difficult year for him 2019."
Heed your hunch with .
