Jacob Fearnley retired with an injury after losing 5-1 in the first set against Arthur Fery to give his fellow countryman a place in the second round at the Vienna Open.
Fearnley was broken by Fery in just his second service game, with the British No 1 winning the next two games on the bounce and looking set to consign his opponent to a comprehensive first-set loss.
Fearnley, though, then put a stop to the contest, shaking the umpire's hand and retiring with an unspecified injury, allowing Fery safe passage to the next stage of the competition.
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Fery will face the winner of No 6 seed Francis Tiafoe and Lorenzo Musetti - the latter of whom he lost against in straight sets at the US Open - in the second round.
Dart extends winning run in Guangzhou Open
Harriet Dart maintained her winning form at the Guangzhou Open in China as she beat Russian qualifier Tatiana Prozorova 6-4 2-6 6-2 to reach the second round.
Dart, who also came through two qualifiers, will next face Uzbekistan's Polina Kudermetova or Indonesia's Janice Tjen in the last 16 after winning a see-saw battle against world number 123 Prozorova.
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Both players struggled to hold serve, but the British number five broke three times in the decider to open up a 5-2 lead and served out to seal victory in two hours and 15 minutes.
British teenager Mika Stojsavljevic slipped to a heavy first-round defeat at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, losing 6-1 6-2 to Filipino world number 19 Alexandra Eala in one hour and 15 minutes.
Stojsavljevic, 17, who won the girls' US Open singles title at the 2024 US Open, was broken twice in both sets by the world number 19 after being given a wildcard into the WTA 500 tournament.
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