Ash Barty has been forced to retire from her second-round match against Poland’s Magda Linette at the French Open because of a hip injury.
Key points:
- Barty was trailing 1-6, 2-2 against Linette when she was forced to retire
- The world number one had been troubled by a hip injury during her French Open campaign
- She took a medical timeout at the end of the first set after winning just one game
Barty made the decision to withdraw at 2-2 in the second set after losing the first 6-1 to Linette.
The world number one entered the match carrying the injury and was wearing strapping on her left thigh against Linette on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Barty found herself in trouble early in the first set when she faced three break points in her opening service game.
The 2019 French Open champion held serve but was then twice broken by the 45th-ranked Linette, who did not drop a service game on her way to wrapping up the first set in just 26 minutes.
Barty left the court for a medical timeout ahead of the second set but not long after play resumed she chose to abandon the match.
It was a desperate end to Barty’s dream of winning back the French Open championship after choosing not to defend her title last year because of coronavirus.
She had admitted there were tears this week as she battled to get fit but the injury she picked up in practice at the weekend had made it “unsafe” for her to carry on.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Barty said in her post-match media conference.
“We’ve had such a brilliant claycourt season, and to get a little bit unlucky with the timing of this injury, with something acute happening over the weekend and just running out of time, it’s disappointing.
“But It won’t take away the brilliant three months that we have had, as much as it hurts right now.
Barty, who has won three tournaments this year, said it had been a “small miracle” that she had managed to get through her opening-round match against Bernarda Pera, during which she had also needed a medical timeout.
This time, though, the pain was there from the start.
“I just tried to give myself a chance, tried to give myself a chance and see how it felt,” Barty said.
Barty ‘battling the pain’
Against Linette, Barty’s movement was nowhere near as fluent as usual.
She visibly winced during the sixth game as she tried to stretch to reach a half volley and there was little power on her usually dynamic serve.
By the end of the first set, Barty was already reduced to trying to keep the rallies as short as possible.
The errors kept flying from her racquet and she posted 14 in all in the opening set.
By the time Linette produced a drop shot at 5-1 up, Barty could hardly even run for the ball.
She stayed on court for a while after losing the first set, speaking to the doctor before going off for some lengthy treatment.
When she returned, her serve improved and, briefly, she looked as if she might be up for the fight.
Yet once Linette had won the fourth game, Barty had no more to give and looked a picture of despondency as she went to the net to shake hands with the Pole.
“It was just becoming too much,” Barty said.
“Right from the first game, I was battling the pain, and it just became too severe, and was becoming unsafe.
“We had a fantastic lead-up. And for my body to let me down is really disheartening, but knowing that we also did nothing wrong. It’s something that can’t be explained at this time.”
Earlier this evening (AEST), Barty’s countrywoman Astra Sharma exited the tournament in the second round.
Sharma lost 6-2, 6-4 to 25th seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in just over an hour.
Jabeur will play Linette in the third round.
ABC/AAP