Carlos Alcaraz had mixed emotions after being gifted a route into the second round of the US Open because his opponent retired injured.
Dominik Koepfer rolled his ankle in the opening game of the match and needed a medical time out to have it heavily bandaged.
He valiantly carried on, at one point telling the chair umpire: "I'm trying not to retire after 20 minutes because of freaking 20,000 people in the stadium."
But the 29-year-old was clearly in a lot of pain and called it a night with Alcaraz leading 6-2 3-2.
Defending champion Alcaraz said: "Obviously I want to play battles. I want to play the full matches. This is not the best way to win a match.
"But obviously, playing the night session, I’m happy to come back early, have some rest. Well, a little bit more than I expect before starting the match.
"It’s going to be better for me to recover into the next round."
Andy Murray won his 200th grand slam match with a three-set victory over fiery Frenchman Corentin Moutet at the US Open.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, a winner here in 2012, overcame an unorthodox and awkward opponent 6-2 7-5 6-3 to become the eighth male player in the Open era to reach the double-century.
It may have been a straight-sets win but, typically with Murray, there was plenty of drama and even a VAR controversy, the first of its kind at Flushing Meadows.
Murray, who came into the event having recovered from an abdominal tear, dominated the first set but a flat passage of play saw him fall a break down in the second as Moutet, all slices and drop shots, began to impose himself.
However, Murray had a let-off when Moutet double-faulted on set point, and then a lucky net cord helped the Scot break back.
Murray was back in full irritant mode and it got to Moutet, who smashed his racket on the floor, twice, as the second set got away from him.
Moutet suffered a nasty fall on the baseline, landing on his racket hand, but was able to continue and saved four break points in his next service game.
But Murray struck at the next opportunity and served out for victory - following a video replay check for a double-bounce which, embarrassingly for organisers who introduced it this year, proved inconclusive - in just under three hours.
"He's one of the most skilful players on the tour, with so many ways to disrupt you, and he always causes a little bit of chaos," said the 36-year-old.
"I hope it was entertaining, there were some fun points, so I'm happy to get through in straight sets.
"It was a long one, but the way we play it was probably always going to be like that. Three hours is a lot shorter than some of my matches!"
Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 champion, dropped just two games as he rolled over 34-year-old Hungarian Attila Balazs.
Alexander Zverev, the runner-up in 2020, is also through to the second round with a straight-sets win over Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
