Luckless Australian tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis has vowed to battle on despite his future again being thrown into doubt after another savage injury blow wrecked his latest comeback bid at the French Open.
The ill-starred 30-year-old was forced to pull out at the start of the third set of his second-round contest with Spanish veteran Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday with a recurrence of the chronic right shoulder problem that's been placing a question mark over his career.
But the defiant 30-year-old, who said he'd pulled out because he feared the match might finish his season, was adamant: "I'm doing some scans tomorrow, I'm trying to be optimistic."
Kokkinakis had cut a forlorn figure after duelling with typical bravery to level at a set apiece 5-7 6-4 after two hours in the 32C heat at Roland Garros, but having clearly been in discomfort throughout, as he constantly tried to shake out his serving shoulder, he needed physio treatment after the set.