INJURED Ugo Humbert played on in tears after a horror head and leg injury that left opponent Alejandro Davidovich Fokina crying too.
French tennis ace Humbert eventually retired at one set-all against the Spanish fifth seed after his sickening fall at the tournament in Montpellier.
https://twitter.com/RelevantTennisUgo Humbert struggled on for the rest of the second set tie-break before retiring in his first round match with pal Alejandro Davidovich Fokina[/caption]
https://twitter.com/RelevantTennisDavidovich Fokina comforts his friend following a nasty-looking injury[/caption]
The wildcard entrant was locked in a tie-break as he sought a straight-sets win when he suffered a stomach-churning tumble.
Humbert managed to return from NINE MINUTES of treatment to win the next point, which cut Davidovich Fokina’s tie-break lead to 3-2.
But the 24-year-old was clearly struggling as fans on social media winced at the “cruel” blow.
And after Davidovich Fokina took advantage to close out the set, Humbert retired.
His spectacular, spinning tumble came after he chased a volley.
As he stretched for a forehand, the left-hander slipped, flew backwards and smashed into the ground – hitting his head on the court.
Davidovich Fokina rushed over to check on his friend.
He gave the World No85 his hand and spoke to him reassuringly as the outsider clutched the top of his right leg.
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Davidovich Fokina said afterwards: “I’m gonna cry, because I was watching him cry.
“I’ve known him since we were kids. It’s never easy to see a friend like this.”
Humbert took three minutes to even just stand on his feet, helped by on-site medics.
But despite resuming the contest after another six minutes, he could only last the rest of the tie-break.
Apart from the injury itself, it was particularly frustrating for Humbert as he had romped away with the first set 6-1.
Once it was 1-1 in sets, though, Humbert sat down to consider his situation but soon decided it was unwise to continue.
Aftr Humbert announced he was retiring from the match, the pair embraced and the crocked home favourite departed in tears.
Davidovich Fokina said: “The match, he was fighting very good, with all the crowd.
“He was very high and I was doing my best. I wanted to play the third set, but it’s never easy to play injured.
“I hope that he will recover and play the next week.”
Davidovich Fokina faces another Frenchman in round two – Quentin Halys.