Tearful Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retires with injury in first set against Ernests Gulbis

The Frenchman, who is No 6 seed, was leading 5-2 in the first set against Ernests Gulbis in the third-round match but was forced to pull out.

Tsonga was in tears as he left the court with a towel over his head.

It means the top half of the draw, which features Novak Djokovic, becomes even more open after Friday's retirement of Rafa Nadal, the fourth seed, with a wrist injury.

"It is the same thing I had before the tournament," said Tsonga. "I just came on court pretty good, and feeling really good.

"The first game of the match I made a couple of slides, and on one of them I just felt a pain. Then I continued a little bit, and it was becoming more and more painful.

"I knew it was over, because there was no chance I could play all match long like this and no chance that I could play in the next round."

Tsonga will only know the extent of the injury in "two or three days" once he has had an MRI scan.

The French number one said he rushed his comeback from injury to play in his home grand slam. "When I arrived here, these were not the best conditions for me because I still had this injury. I had an injury two weeks before Roland Garros," the 2008 Australian Open runner-up added.

"It was really too soon. But I play tennis because I want to play the French Open. So I couldn't ... throw the towel before (coming to) Roland Garros."

Gulbis will next face Belgian 12th seed David Goffin.