Johanna Konta was forced to retire midway through her first-round match at the Australian Open against Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan due to injury.

The British number one won the first set 6-4 but was forced to concede the match after falling 2-0 behind in the second.

Konta appeared to sustain or exacerbate the injury when she stretched for a smash towards the end of the opening set, and required an on-court medical time-out.

The 13th seed then left the court for treatment at the end of the set, and swiftly decided not to continue after losing her opening service game of the second set to love.

It was a further setback for Konta, who endured a difficult 2020 season due to ongoing issues with a knee injury.

Having recently reunited with her former coach Dimitri Zavialoff, hopes were high that the 29-year-old would be able to get her new campaign off to an encouraging start.

And she appeared to have been granted the ideal opportunity against an opponent ranked 104 in the world who has never made it beyond the second round of a grand slam.

But after making a good start Konta’s hopes were evidently hampered, and two games without winning a point convinced her to call time on her challenge.