There’s been an outpouring of emotion for Thanasi Kokkinakis after he crashed out of the Cincinnati Open in painful scenes.

In his first round match against Portugal’s Nuno Borges, the injury cursed Aussie had won the first set and lost the second in a tie-breaker.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Thanasi Kokkinakis goes down in Cincinnati

Another tie-breaker was needed in the third but mid-rally, and trailing 4-5, Kokkinakis returned the ball then suddenly cramped while in flight, only to land, badly twist is ankle and hit the deck.

He was in clear distress as a concerned Borges rushed to his aid.

“Press my calf, press my right calf,” he pleaded to Borges.

“Gently, gently,” he added.

Kokkinakis got up to finish the match, losing 7-5, 6-7, 6-7.

“After three intense hours of battle, with 5-4 for Borges in the final tiebreak, Kokkinakis collapses with all his weight onto his foot and badly twists his ankle,” tennis YouTuber Jose Morón said.

“The match didn’t deserve this ending. Neither did Kokkinakis.

“He can’t stop dealing with pains and problems because of his shoulder. This situation is just one more drop in a glass that must be overflowing.

“What a shame, because if it were about tennis level, this guy would be there as a solid top 20.”

Sharing vision of the incident on social media, Tennis Masterr said: “Kokkinakis calf cramped up during forehand motion and twisted his ankle at 4:5 in the third set tiebreak ... He just cannot catch a break,”

And another tennis account said: “Kokkinakis rolled his ankle due to cramp at 5-4 in the decider tie break … This guy might be one of the unluckiest guys on tour with injuries… So sad for him.”

Fans said, “Sad to see him go out like that,” and another added, “Painful to watch.”

Earlier this year Kokkinakis was forced to pull out of his his second round contest with Spanish veteran Pablo Carreno Busta at the French Open due to a recurrence of the chronic right shoulder problem.

The 30-year-old has a dead man’s Achilles attaching his pec to his shoulder and bears a surgery scar that looks for all the world like a shark bite.

In May this year he admitted: “My right arm isn’t as functional as probably the average human…”

Kokkinakis also pulled out of the Australian Open at the start of the year after he re-injured the troublesome shoulder.

- With AAP