Paradorn, who is known in Thailand as "Ball", appeared to be suffering from a viral infection during the match and called it quits after less than 40 minutes after losing the first set 6-3 and being down 3-0 in the second. He defeated Chela 6-4 6-3 in Basel, Switzerland, last week where he went on to reach the semi-final before falling to Roger Federer in one of his best matches in a long time.

It was not the ideal way to finish the season for Paradorn, who just returned to the top 50 rankings this week. His early exit in the French capital means he will slip outside the top 50 again after failing to match his results in the tournament last year, when he reached round two.

The Thai was never at his best yesterday and made a string of uncharacteristic errors. His game was far below the level he played at last week when he came within one shot of defeating world No 1 Federer.

He dropped the opening game yesterday and called for a trainer during a break after the third game.

Paradorn coughed and covered his forehead before he inhaled medicine provided by the trainer, which was expected to give him some relief. He appeared to improve and hit some big serves and powerful shots to counter-punch against Chela, but his revival did not last long.

Down 5-3 in the first set, he faced a couple of set points due to his own errors. He blasted an ace to escape from the first, only to serve a double fault to lose the set.

After being unable to hold his serve in the second set, Paradorn lost points easily and fell 3-0 behind. He then informed a tournament official that he could not keep playing.

Meanwhile, Spain's Nicolas Almagro was behind 6-3, 5-4 to Russian 15th seed Dimitry Tursunov when he also pulled out from their second round match.

Spain's David Ferrer became the first seeded casualty at the Paris Masters when the number 11 slumped to a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to America's Robby Ginepri.

Meanwhile, when world No 1 Federer pulled out of the final Masters Series event of the year in Paris on Monday, he inadvertently opened up old wounds and an even older debate.

For some time now there has been a raging debate over the ability, or maybe willingness, of the top players to compete in the biggest tournaments.

When Federer, who complained of fatigue after his win in Basel on Sunday, joined world No 2 Rafael Nadal and No 3 David Nalbandian in pulling out of the ninth Masters event, the disappointment among the organisers was palpable.

It sparked an immediate response from both them and the new ATP chairman, Etienne De Villiers.

They must have known it was coming following Federer's comments on Sunday after his Basel victory: "I'll wait until Monday.

I've got to give myself a day of thought," said the Wimbledon, Australian Open and US Open champion.

Federer had won his last three events played over the last four weeks - including 10 matches in a row to lift the Madrid Masters and Basel Open in successive weeks.