Raphaël Collignon pulled out of his Roland-Garros doubles match with Zizou Bergs on Friday, a day after his singles upset of Ben Shelton, after a small abdominal discomfort forced the Belgian pair to declare a walkover in the second round.
The withdrawal landed at the worst possible moment for the 23-year-old Belgian, because his win over Shelton had pushed him into a third-round singles match against Matteo Arnaldi and turned a good fortnight into a real test of his body as much as his game.
Steve Darcis said the decision to stop was made purely as a precaution. Collignon had played Shelton at full intensity, Darcis said, and had served well despite the discomfort. The former Davis Cup captain added that Collignon had already seen the doctor and his physiotherapist, had treatment planned and would rest after going to bed very late on Thursday night.
That explanation matters because the doubles walkover was not presented as a collapse, but as a calculated pause. Darcis said the discomfort was small and that Collignon would be ready for the third round against Arnaldi, a player he described as returning to his true level after once being ranked 30th in the world. He also said the match would be very physical and that Collignon often prefers to challenge opponents ranked above him.
The friction is obvious. Collignon was good enough to beat the fifth seed Shelton, but the same body that carried him through that upset was then deemed too important to risk in doubles. Darcis said he did not expect Collignon to beat Arnaldi and argued that the Belgian was no more of an underdog than he had been against Shelton, though he also warned that the pressure of a third round at Roland-Garros is something new for him.
For Collignon, the immediate task is simple: recover, get through the treatment, and show that the abdominal issue was only a brief interruption. If he does line up against Arnaldi, it will tell more than the Shelton win did about how far this run can still go.
