Watch: Istomin Wins Chengdu as Baghdatis Retires

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Watch: Istomin Wins Chengdu as Baghdatis Retires

The Chengdu Open final came to a painfully premature conclusion for Marcos Baghdatis.

Denis Istomin held a 3-2 lead over the former Australian Open finalist when Baghdatis' back locked up and he toppled to the court in clear pain.

More: Goffin Claims Shenzhen Title

Istomin crossed the net out of concern to check on his fallen opponent and immediately signaled for the trainer. Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes also came out on court to check on Baghdatis' status.

The 32-year-old Cypriot was unable to continue due to his back injury.

The 78th-ranked Istomin, who knocked Novak Djokovic out of the Australian Open in January, collected his second career ATP title.

"I know his situation, because I've had a lot of injuries," Istomin told ATP World Tour.com. "I know the feeling and we are good friends, so my first thought was to help Marcos when I saw him go down. Of course I want to win the title, but not this way. I hope he gets better and will be okay for the rest of the season."

The 31-year-old Istomin knocked off Jan-Lennard Struff, Karen Khachanov, Jared Donaldson, Yuichi Sugita and Baghdatis en route to his first ATP title since 2015 Nottingham.

"I feel great and especially today I was feeling better than the other matches," Istomin said. "I think I'm in the same condition as I was in Australia at the beginning of the season. My next tournament will be a Challenger in my hometown of Tashkent and then the ATP events in Stockholm, Basel and Paris. I'm feeling fine now and will try to finish the year as best as I can."

Photo credit: Chengdu Open Facebook

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