Tennis fans were left gutted at the US Open on Tuesday when young gun Sebastian Korda was forced to retire hurt in his opening round clash.
The American was down a set and 1-2 against Nikoloz Basilashvili when he called it quits.
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Korda had called for the trainer and complained that he was feeling ill, at one stage asking for a bucket so he could throw up.
His agent later confirmed his retirement was due to stomach issues.
It’s a bitter blow for Korda after he opted to skip the recent Olympics to focus on the US Open.
The 21-year-old was tipped as a dark horse to make the quarter-finals at his home grand slam.
“Rough break for Korda, especially after skipping out on the Olympics to focus on his prep for this US Open,” wrote American journalist Ben Rothenberg.
Alexander Zverev continues hot form at US Open
Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has extended his winning streak to 12 matches after ousting Sam Querrey and moving into the second round.
The fourth seed proved too good for the American in the comfortable 6-4 7-5 6-2 opening victory.
The German is considered a major threat to top seed Novak Djokovic – who is hoping to complete a calendar year grand slam at New York – after upsetting the Serbian at the Tokyo Games.
Zverev derailed Djokovic’s hopes to become the first man to win a golden slam – all four grand slams and the Olympic title in the same year – when he overcame the world No.1 on his way to winning Tokyo gold.
Zverev – who lost the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem – followed up his Olympic victory by continuing his winning ways, claiming the recent hard-court title at Cincinnati.
“Novak is chasing history,” said Zverev.
“But I think the guys are going to try and get in the way of that and I’m looking forward to maybe giving him a challenge as well.
“I hope in two weeks’ time I’ll be on an 18-match winning streak.”
Meanwhile, Canadian seventh seed Denis Shapovalov breezed past Federico Delbonis 6-2 6-2 6-3 in a battle of the left-handers, ending a four-match losing streak since his quarter-final victory over Karen Khachanov at Wimbledon.
Russian 25th seed Khachanov was upset by South African Lloyd Harris 6-4 1-6 4-6 6-3 6-2 on Tuesday.
American 22nd seed Reilly Opelka, a finalist at the Canadian Open earlier this month, hit 33 aces past South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon to claim a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-4 victory.
And Belgian 27th seed David Goffin lost 6-2 7-5 6-3 to American world No.30 Mackenzie McDonald.
with AAP
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