Injuries and similar issues have rocked the latter stages of the careers of many stars across the ATP and WTA tours in recent times.
Simona Halep has retired after a serious knee injury, while Bianca Andreescu will miss the clay season after undergoing appendix surgery.
The ATP and WTA seasons continue to roar on after the Australian Open, with the Rotterdam Open and the Dallas Open now concluding on the former.
The latter meanwhile turns its focus to the Qatar Open after Belinda Bencic triumphed at the Abu Dhabi Open.
But there was also action at the Play in Challenger in Lille, where Lucas Pouille was taking on Arthur Bouquier in an all-French final.
Their battle for the trophy was, however, cut short when former world number 10 Pouille was forced to retire hurt.
The 30-year-old third seed lost the first set 3-6, but was ahead in the second set 5-3 before a fall led to his withdrawal.
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L’equipe journalist Quentin Moynet has now issued an update from Pouille, writing on X: “Lucas Pouille, injured in the final in Lille: ‘The news is, I think, not good. I don’t want to make any statements until there have been tests. But there is a chance that this will be the last match of my career. I think it’s a complete rupture of the Achilles tendon’.”
If indeed it is a rupture of the Achilles tendon, it is certainly both very worrying and unfortunate for 30-year-old Pouille.
Currently tanked 102nd in the world, the Frenchman reached a career-high ranking of 10th in March 2018.
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He boasts five ATP Tour-level titles from his impressive career, with two of those victories coming on home soil in Metz and Montpellier.
A third round finish remains his best run at the French Open, but Pouille superbly reached the 2019 Australian Open semi-finals.
| Year | Titles | Tournaments |
| 2018 | 1 | Montpellier (Indoor/Hard) |
| 2017 | 3 | Vienna (Indoor/Hard) Stuttgart (Outdoor/Grass) Budapest (Outdoor/Clay) |
| 2016 | 1 | Metz (Indoor/Hard) |
He lost to top seed and eventual champion Novak Djokovic, with quarter-final finishes his best at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
Pouille, who lost to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open first round last month, would retire from the sport with a 143-134 win-loss record and $8,783,101 in career prize money.
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