Lucas Pouille has suggested he may be forced to retire after rupturing his Achilles tendon during the final of a Challenger Tour event on Sunday. The Frenchman, 30, was playing Arthur Bouquier in the Lille Challenger and was in the middle of a tense battle.

His opponent took the first set 6-3 before Pouille bounced back to lead 5-3 in the second. But then disaster struck for him as he suffered a horror injury mid-point that brought an abrupt end to the showpiece match.

As Pouille was running to the net to get on the end of a drop shot from Bouquier, he collapsed in a heap and there was deafening silence from the crowd. His compatriot was clearly very worried too, walking over the net to see how his rival was.

It was immediately clear the injury was serious, with Pouille forced to retire on the spot as the final reached boiling point. But moments later, wearing bandages and on crutches, he returned to the court for the trophy presentation.

And he spoke about the severity of his injury, hinting that he may need to retire at the age of 30. He said: “The news is, I think, not good.

“I don’t want to make any statements until there have been tests. But there is a chance that this will be the last match of my career. I think it’s a complete rupture of the Achilles tendon.

“Playing tennis again at a high level after that is complicated. I’ll do everything in my power to come back, at least I’ll try. I’ll talk to the doctors and surgeons. That’s the way it is, that’s life.”

Just a matter of hours after leaving the court, Pouille took to social media to confirm that he had ruptured the muscle and will therefore be sidelined for an extended period. However, how he signed off will give his supporters hope that it is not the last time that they will see Pouille competing.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, he told his 58,000 followers: “The results are what we thought.. Complete rupture of the Achilles tendon.. thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your messages. I’m going to have surgery in the next few days and do everything I can to come back. see you soon.”

Pouille has enjoyed a very strong career, with his best performance at a Grand Slam coming at the Australian Open in 2019, having reached the semi-final where he lost to eventual winner Novak Djokovic.

The Frenchman has also reached the quarter-finals of both Wimbledon and US Open in 2016.