Ninth defeat in ten matches for Mannarino, eliminated by Hijikata in Dallas

Adrian Mannarino (36) continues his period of doubt. The Frenchman, eliminated in the first round at the Australian Open by Karen Khachanov and then by Richard Gasquet on his debut in Montpellier last week, was looking to regain his confidence at the ATP 500 tournament in Dallas.

Mannarino returned to a tournament that had smiled on him last year, when he reached the semi-finals, only to be beaten by Marcos Giron.

But this year, things didn't go according to plan. Faced with Rinky Hijikata in his first match, the former 17th-ranked player in the world continued his poor form.

Beaten 7-5, 6-3 by the Australian, ranked 73rd in the ATP rankings, Mannarino withdrew from the tournament on his first appearance and will lose the points he earned last year in the American event.

Ranked 107th in the world this week, he will be 129th at best next Monday. He has now lost nine of his last ten matches (including challengers and qualifying matches).

Mannarino's last victory on the main circuit came at the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 on October 30, when he eliminated Zizou Bergs in three sets.