PARIS, May 24 (UPI) -- Sixth-seeded Andre Agassi could not overcome a lower back ailment at the French Open Tuesday, losing his first-round match to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.
The former French Open runner-up was beaten by the left-hander, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-0.
Agassi, 35, was in so much pain after the match, he needed help off the court at Roland Garros Stadium despite receiving a cortisone injection before the match.
"I just couldn't walk off the court," he told reporters. "The nerve in my back started getting inflamed and sending pain all the way down my leg, and it was getting worse by the minute.
"Something tells me I'm at the stage of my career where I'm going to be living with these injections," he added.
It was Agassi's second consecutive opening-round loss against a French Open qualifier.
