A bizaare finger injury forced Cypriot super star Marcos Baghdatis to withdraw from his third-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday.

The former finalist of the tournament was trailing Jurgen Melzer 2-1 sets and 4-3 in the fourth when he told the umpire he had to pull out due to pains in the little finger of his right hand.

“I don’t think it’s broken because I could push the ball, but whenever I hit it it felt like electricity on the joint and the ligament,” said 25-year-old Baghdatis, who had also dropped out of the Sydney tournament a few days earlier.

“I hope it’s nothing serious. I felt it from the first match. I had pain and when I finished it I thought it was a bit of cramping from the stress.

“As the days went by I thought it was not serious, just a small thing. Yet today in the match it started to get worse,” said a disappointed Baghdatis, who had seen off Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round.

“It was disappointing to finish this way. I was confident and I was looking forward to being in the second week. Had I won today I would have played Andy Murray and I was pumped up for that,” the Cypriot added.