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Dan Evans forced to retire against Frances Tiafoe in Vienna due to calf injury

Dan Evans forced to retire due to calf injury suffered against Frances Tiafoe in Vienna, putting his hopes of appearing for Britain in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in major doubt; Head to the Sky Sports website and app, for live scores, reports, analysis and features

Wednesday 25 October 2023 14:09, UK

Dan Evans of Great Britain reacts during his match against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in their men's singles round of 32 match on Day 8 of the 2023 Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre on October 09, 2023 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Hugo Hu/Getty Images)
Image: Dan Evans was forced to retire when leading 4-1 against Frances Tiafoe

Britain's Dan Evans was forced to retire against Frances Tiafoe in Vienna after suffering what appeared to be a serious calf injury on Tuesday.

Evans, who was looking comfortable when leading 4-1 in the first set, pulled up after suffering a sharp pain in the back of his leg.

Despite seeking medical attention, the world No 35 was comforted by American Tiafoe as he pulled out of the contest.

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It was only the second tour-level retirement of Evans's career and it means he will be a doubt for Great Britain's Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia next month.

Evans had been expected to partner world doubles No 4 Neal Skupski in Malaga, but his injury could now put pay to captain Leon Smith's first-choice line-up.

Stefanos Tsitsipas won his latest battle with wild card and home favourite Dominic Thiem.

The pair went five sets at Wimbledon in the summer, with the Greek prevailing, and he did again, winning 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

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There were wins for third seed Andrey Rublev and fifth seed Alexander Zverev, who will next meet British No 1 Cameron Norrie in the next round.

Heather Watson fell in the first round of the Abierto Tampico event in Mexico, losing in three sets to Ann Li.

Watson won the first set 6-4, but the American - ranked 50 places below Watson at 156 - raced through the second 6-1 and took the decider 6-3.

Maria Sakkari of Greece reacts after defeating Diana Shnaider of Russia in their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Image: Maria Sakkari will replace the injured Karolina Muchova at the WTA Finals in Cancun

In other news, world No 8 Karolina Muchova has withdrawn from the WTA Finals in Cancun due to a right wrist injury and will be replaced by first alternate Maria Sakkari of Greece.

Czech Muchova was the eighth player to qualify for the season-ending tournament after reaching the Cincinnati final and the US Open semi-finals, losing to American Coco Gauff on both occasions.

"Together with the team and doctors we tried everything till the last moment to resolve my wrist injury," Muchova said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, the time needed for the recovery is longer than we would've hoped for and therefore I had to make this unpleasant decision."

As a result, the ninth-ranked Sakkari will feature in her third straight WTA Finals at this year's event, which starts on Sunday, after reaching the semi-finals a year ago.

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