"I felt a sharp pain in my back - that was it": Dzumhur reveals stunning retirement after only one point in Bastad

Damir Dzumhur explained his unusual retirement at the ATP 250 Bastad Open after playing only one point against Filip Misolic.

The 31-year-old Bosnian normally participates in challenger tournaments, although he had appearances in the Grand Slam qualifiers this year, registering a victory in his first qualifying match at the Australian Open (eliminated in the second round against Max Purcell) and a loss in the first round of the qualifying at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

On Sunday, Dzumhur played a qualifying match for the Bastad Open and won his first-round match against the 5th seed Francesco Maestrelli 6-4, 2-6, 7-6.

In the second round on Monday, as he sought entry to the main draw, Dzumhur only played one point and decided to retire, allowing Austrian player Filip Misolic to take his place in the main draw.

Dzumhur explained the situation to N1 television and detailed that he had felt pain before the match but decided to go on the court after feeling slightly better

"I went to a physiotherapist, took painkillers, but there was not too much help. I felt a little better and I thought I would try to play, but already in the first point, I felt a sharp pain again as I was trying to run to the ball.

"I couldn't continue because simply with such an injury you can no longer make any movement," Dzumhur said.

World No. 167 will return to tournaments in three weeks at the Banja Luka Challenger, a clay-court tournament held in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The local tennis player reached the final of the same tournament in 2022 but was defeated by Hungarian player Fabian Marozsan. Now, he is looking forward to making a comeback and hoping for a better outcome this time.