Rafael Nadal's first singles tennis match after a lengthy injury lay-off ended abruptly when the Spaniard's Davis Cup team mate David Ferrer retired hurt during their second round encounter at the Montreal Masters.
With Nadal leading 4-3 in the opening set and having just broken his opponent for the second time, Ferrer calmly walked over to the chair umpire and said he could not continue after aggravating a left knee injury.
Ferrer had shown no signs of distress and in fact had dominated stretches of the match.
Ferrer's retirement puts Nadal into the third round, where he will face Philipp Petzschner of Germany.
