Cameron Norrie retires from French Open in latest injury blow for British tennis
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 earlier this month.
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 professional 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.
“It’s a tough feeling right now,” Norrie told reporters in Paris. “I thought I would be ready but it was obviously too soon. I think I was just a little bit mentally tired, not having the ability mentally to put the pain away, the pain aside, and just play point for point.
“I know I’m playing so well, so that was even more frustrating, and even at 20 per cent today I was able to compete with the guy. I thought I was feeling better this morning when I woke up and when the match started it was just a lot of distraction on every shot. So it was tough.”
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.
