Cape Town - Kevin Anderson has bowed out of the Italian Open after he was forced to retire in his match against Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia.
The big-serving South African had lost the first set 6-4 and it is thought a thigh injury caused him to forfeit the match.
Anderson reached a new career-high world ranking of No 7 on Monday - following an impressive performance at last week’s Madrid Masters.
He made history in the Spanish capital when he reached the semi-final stage of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time and was hoping to continue his good form at the Italian Open.
In other matches, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori moved into the next round of the tournament.
