Rio De Janeiro, Feb. 19 -- Top seed Francisco Cerundolo retired from the Rio Open due to a lower back injury, ending his bid for a maiden ATP 500 title.
The world No. 19 was trailing fellow Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-2, 3-1 in their last-16 match at the Jockey Club Brasileiro on Wednesday when he stopped play to receive treatmentfrom a physiotherapist before deciding he could not continue, according to Xinhua.
An official medical report was not immediately available.
"It's not good to win like this, especially with Fran, one of my friends," Tirante said.
"I knew that he was very tired from last week, so I had to improve myself on the court andfocus on me."Tirante will meet either Francesco Passaro or Alejandro Tabilo in the next...