French tennis star Ugo Humbert was forced to retire in tears and also left his opponent emotional after a horrific fall during a home tournament in Montpellier.
Injured Hubert suffered a sickening tumble while locked in a tense tie-break battle against close friend Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the ATP 250 event.
The wildcard - who had blitzed the Spanish fifth seed 6-1 in the first set - was desperately stretching for a forehand at a crucial juncture in the second set tie-break.
Hubert just missed the ball and lost balance, flying backwards through the air before smashing to the ground and hitting his head on the hard court.
The world No.85 collided with the surrounding advertising boards as he appeared to trip over his own feet before crashing down. And he was in agony on the floor as shaken opponent Davidovich Fokina rushed to his aid.
Davidovich Fokina comforted Hubert with some consoling words on the court, but it took several minutes for the outsider to even move due to the gravity of the fall.
He eventually received help from medical staff and continued after a timeout, nine minutes on from his excruciating fall.
And courageous Hubert played through the pain barrier as he went on to lose the tie-break. But he quickly decided he could not longer continue and retired with the match poised at one-set all.
The distressing incident also had a distinct impact on Davidovich Fokina, who was overwhelmed with concern for a player he has grown up with in tennis.
“I’ve known Ugo since we were kids. I’m going to cry because I was watching him cry," he said on court post-match.“I’ve known him since we were kids and I know him very well.
"It’s never easy to see a friend like this He just flew on the court, and I was like, ‘Something happened’, because he was crying and it was tough.
“Then the match was over. He fought with all the crowd... I was doing my best. I wanted to play the third set, but it is never easy to play injured.”
