Arthur Rinderknech learned the hard way that deciding to have an angry outburst mid match can result in not only pain and suffering but also having to retire at the
French Open in a truly bizarre moment.
Rinderknech was delighting the French crowd and was 6-3, 7-6 up against
Tomas Martin Etcheverry, himself a pretty adept clay court operator who reached the Lyon final last week. However the former lost the plot as he failed to hold serve thrice and threw nine unforced errors down the court to let Etcheverry back in.
His frustration reach boiling point albeit not with a typical injury. He kicked a billboard and unintentionally injured himself. He damaged his big toe in the process and he received treatment. But Etcheverry returned to lead 5-0 in the fourth set.
From an insurmountable lead, he soon retired calling it quits and throwing his racquet away in dejection before leaving the court limping. Not exactly the way that Etcheverry would want to win. But he won't care as he moves through to face Casper Ruud in the third round. Now only Corentin Moutet remains as the only Frenchman in the men's singles draw. Chloe Paquet similarly in the women's is flying the flag for France. With a glut of stars mainly due to wildcards, they have failed to deliver.
In particular, Lyon champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Gael Monfils fell by the wayside with likely more expected. But Rinderknech unintentionally kiboshed his route through.