Matt Ebden’s luck has run out at the Paris Masters with the Australian forced to bow out of the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the year through injury.
Ebden, who lost in the final round of qualifying, had been given a reprieve when he replaced Kyle Edmund in the main draw after the Briton withdraw due to a knee injury.
But the 30-year-old Ebden was forced to retire 45 minutes into his match with Karen Khachanov on Tuesday.
After losing the first set 6-2 and struggling with his serve, Ebden pulled the pin down 2-0 in the second set.
He had been the sole Aussie left in the draw after the firstr-round exits of young gun Alex de Minaur and US Open quarter-finalist John Millman on Monday.
Novak Djokovic began his campaign for the world No.1 ranking with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Joao Sousa.
The 31-year-old Serb can take the top spot in the rankings from Rafael Nadal if he wins a record extending fifth title in the French capital.
However, even though he claimed the match in an aggressive manner, Djokovic had to fight through a flu-like illness to win in one hour and 33 minutes.
The 2018 Wimbledon and US Open champion is on a stellar run having lost only twice in 34 matches and has also won the last two Masters crowns in Shanghai and Cincinnati.
Djokovic will face Damir Dzumhur next after the Bosnian advanced with a 6-3 6-3 win over Greek 14th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Milos Raonic battled past local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) to earn a tie with Roger Federer on Wednesday.
Tsonga’s exit means he is the fifth Frenchman to exit the tournament but one home player was fortunate to progress earlier on Tuesday.
Gilles Simon defeated compatriot Lucas Pouille 6-3 6-4 to advance to the second round.
Benoit Paire lost to Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-4 6-4, Jeremy Chardy was beaten by the same scoreline by Spain’s Fernando Verdasco while Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin rallied to beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 3-6 6-3 7-5 .
Verdasco will play compatriot Nadal on Wednesday.
Daniil Medvedev cruised to a 6-2 6-2 victory over Spaniard Pablo Carreno-Busta.
