Arthur Rinderknech was left embarrassed when he was forced to retire from the French Open after injuring himself when he angrily kicked the side of the court.

The Frenchman led Tomas Etcheverry by two sets but the 28th seed started to mount a comeback and took the second 6-1.

Rinderknech kicked out in frustration while he was a break down in the fourth and needed to see the physio, ultimately abandoning the match because of the injury it caused. He is now concerned that he has broken his toe.

The world No. 69 looked on his way to a big upset when he took the lead against Etcheverry on Court 7 on Thursday night. But things quickly fell away from him when the Argentine stormed back to force a fourth set.

Trailing 0-2, Rinderknech sent a backhand into the net and found himself in danger of going a double-break down. He stormed to the side of the court and kicked an advertising board in frustration.

But he hurt himself in the process and was quickly made to regret his moment of anger, bending down to check on his toe. The home star was broken again and received a medical time out while trailing 0-5.

Etcheverry kept the crowd entertained with some shadow swings while his opponent was seen by the physio. But he didn’t need the practice, as the match ended a few minutes later.

Rinderknech continued playing and faced a set point on his serve but retired before Etcheverry could take it and later shared his regrets.

“I feel very good physically but I just messed up,” he told L’Equipe after the match. “I shot into the wall, a little annoyance, at 2-0, when I got broken in the fourth and I don't really know, at the moment.”