Djokovic retires from match after losing 1st set to Lopez

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Top-seeded Novak Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal match against Feliciano Lopez at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday after losing the first set.

Djokovic called for the ATP trainer while trailing 1-2. He kept pointing to his face as he spoke to the trainer, but eventually got up to play.

However, he quit the match after the Spaniard closed out the set 6-3.

Lopez said Djokovic told him that he had an eye infection “since a few days already.”

Djokovic’s retirement means this will be the first tournament in more than a year where he hasn’t reached the final.

Lopez will play unseeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the semifinals. Baghdatis upset fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-5, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka set up a semifinal with unseeded Nick Kyrgios by beating eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-1.

Kyrgios, who is making his debut at the Dubai tournament, advanced by beating third-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 despite having treatment on his back in the first set.