Steve Darcis's joy at knocking Rafa Nadal out in the first round at Wimbledon turned to despair on Wednesday as the lowly-ranked Belgian withdrew from the championships with a shoulder injury.

The 29-year-old's stunning victory over the twice former champion went down as one of the tournament's greatest shocks and elevated the journeyman player into the limelight.

Tournament organisers said the world No.135 had withdrawn from his second round match against Poland's Lukasz Kubot with a right shoulder injury.

"Had to withdraw after a win like this!? The most difficult thing I've ever had to do!!!," Darcis said on Twitter, adding that he had tried everything to play but it had not worked.

Kubot, guaranteed an extra 25,000 pounds ($38,500) for his walkover, will face a Frenchman in the third round - either Benoit Paire or Stephane Robert.

It was the second year running that 12-times major champion Nadal had suffered a shock early defeat at Wimbledon.

Last year he was beaten by Lukas Rosol in the second round.

Rosol's run was also short-lived, however, as he lost in the next round to Philipp Kohlschreiber. ($1 = 0.6492 British pounds)

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