A thrilling five-set victory took a toll on Gael Monfils, whose withdrawal from Roland-Garros handed No.6 Holger Rune a walkover to the third round.
The 36-year-old Frenchman said he has a strained left wrist and could not continue.
He battled Sebastian Baez for nearly four hours on Court Philippe Chatrier before beating the Argentine 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 in a first-round match that ended at 12.18am local time Wednesday.
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The victory was Monfils’ first at tour level this year, as the veteran was coming back from heel surgery.
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“Actually, physically, I’m quite fine. But I had the problem with my wrist that I cannot solve,” he said. “The doctor say was not good to play with that type of injury. Yesterday was actually very risky, and then today definitely say I should stop.”
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Monfils reached the semi-finals at the French Open in 2008 and made it to the quarter-finals on three other occasions.
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