Stefanos Tsitsipas calls physio and retires from Wimbledon to hand world No.113 first win

Stefanos Tsitsipas retired from his first-round match at Wimbledon after receiving an on-court medical time-out. The 24th seed called the physio in the middle of the second set and received treatment on his back. He played on but lost the second set to qualifier Valentin Royer and sat on his bench, deliberating whether to continue.

The Greek star appeared to be asking his new coach, 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, for advice before speaking with the umpire and quitting the match. Royer advances with a scoreline of 6-3 6-2 ret. This marks the world No. 113's first-ever tour-level match win.

Tsitsipas lost the first set to Royer and was a double break down at 4-1 in the second set when he received a medical timeout. He lay down on Court 12 while the trainer worked on his back.

He continued playing and even had triple break point on the qualifier's serve when he served for the set at 5-2. But the French world No. 113 saved all three and closed out a two-set-to-love lead as Tsitsipas trudged to his bench.

It seemed the former world No. 3 was going to continue as he sat down for the change of ends. But he started calling over to his box and commentators speculated whether he was asking Ivanisevic what to do.

"Tsitsipas is really struggling with his game. He's got the physio out once again so he's in discussion. We'll have to wait and see whether he continues this one, Tsitsipas, because he is struggling and there is a mountain for him to climb now," Arvind Palmer said.

"He's in conversation there, he's almost looking for an answer from Goran, 'Should I continue?' And Goran has given him the, 'Well, it's up to you'. I mean, is there any benefit? I think he might pull the plug here."

Tsitsipas got up and started talking to the chair umpire to confirm his retirement. She called Royer over so they could shake hands. The Greek star could be heard apologising to the qualifier for failing to continue the match.

Commentator Ronald McIntosh added: "So that is it. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 24th seed, conceding after losing the first two sets here against the French qualifier Valentin Royer.

"What a wonderful moment for the 24-year-old from the outskirts of Paris, securing his first tour-level win on this, his Wimbledon debut."

Tsitsipas later cast doubt over the future of his career, suggesting he didn't want to keep playing through an ongoing injury.

And he wasn't the only former Grand Slam finalist and ex-top-10 player to retire at Wimbledon today. Ons Jabeur, the runner-up here in 2022 and 2023, also quit her opening match.

The Tunisian star started crying less than half an hour into her contest with Viktoriya Tomova and received an off-court medical time out. She continued playing but retired after going 7-6(5) 2-0 down.

Tsitsipas is also the latest seed to bow out on day one of the Championships after British star Sonay Kartal stunned 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the women's draw. World No. 9 Daniil Medvedev then suffered a shock first-round defeat to Benjamin Bonzi.

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