Ashleigh Barty’s French Open campaign ended in pain and bitter disappointment after the world No 1 was forced to retire from her second round match against Poland’s Magda Linette with a hip injury.
The top-seeded Australian, who once again arrived on Court Philippe Chatrier with her left thigh heavily strapped, never looked comfortable and lost the first set 6-1 before leaving the court for a medical time-out. Barty was level at 2-2 in the second set when she walked to the net with an air of resignation and removed her wrist band, indicating she could no longer continue.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Barty in her press conference. “I mean, we have had such a brilliant clay court season, and to get a little bit unlucky with timing, more than anything, to have something acute happen over the weekend and just run out of time against the clock, is disappointing. It won’t take away the brilliant three months that we have had, as much as it hurts right now.
“We did everything, absolutely everything we could to give myself a chance. It was a small miracle that we were able to get on court for that first round.”
Barty, who said she took the decision to retire because the injury was “becoming unsafe”, declined to elaborate on the extent of the problem, saying only that it occurred after “landing on serve one day” in practice.
“I just tried to give myself a chance and see how it felt,” she added. “Obviously practising, we’ve had our restrictions and essentially tried to stay as fresh as possible and not aggravate it in any way, but in a match that’s unavoidable at times.
“It got worse today and it was becoming at the stage where it was unsafe … Right from the first game, I was battling the pain, and it just became too severe.”
Barty’s retirement leaves the women’s draw bereft of its top two seeds following Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the tournament amid the controversy stirred by her media blackout. It also means the Australian’s projected semi-final clash with the defending champion Iga Swiatek, who later completed an impressive 6-1, 6-1 win over Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson, will have to wait for another day.
Barty’s physical limitations were apparent from the outset as she grimaced and scowled her way through the opening few games. The Australian struggled to move with her usual freedom and athleticism, and her service motion was compromised by an inability to push up through her legs. It all made for painful viewing. In a woeful opening set for the world No 1, she made just 39% of her first serves, quickly racking up 14 unforced errors and four double faults.
In the 45th-ranked Linette, Barty faced an opponent well equipped to capitalise on her difficulties. The Pole, a smart tactician and gifted shot-maker, used short angles and variations of height, spin and pace to keep the Australian guessing and pull her away from the centre of the court. She retained her focus admirably, refusing to be distracted by Barty’s obvious physical discomfort.
It took Linette just 19 minutes to establish a 4-1 lead, at which point Barty decided to go for broke. The top seed continued to look laboured, however, and although there was a marked improvement in her play after she received medical treatment, she lasted just four games before injury forced her out of a second successive tournament following her recent withdrawal from the Italian Open with an arm injury.
Barty, whose injury travails first became apparent in her opening round match against Bernard Pera, had conceded that her title challenge was “going to be a little bit tough” given that she was “not quite 100%”, and so it proved. It marks a disappointing conclusion to the clay-court swing for the Australian, who won the title in Stuttgart and reached the final of the Madrid Open.
Linette will face Ons Jabeur, the 25th seed, in the next round after the Tunisian beat world No 124 Astra Sharma. Jabeur won 6-2, 6-4 to avenge her recent defeat to the Australian in the final of Charleston.
Also through are Elina Svitolina, the fifth seed, who beat Ann Li 6-0, 6-4, and last year’s finalist Sofia Kenin, the fourth-seeded American, who overcame her compatriot Hailey Baptiste 7-5, 6-3.
Svitolina will face Barbora Krejcikova in the next round after the Czech brushed aside 32nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-3 to notch up a seventh successive victory following her title run in Strasbourg last week. Kenin will play her compatriot Jessica Pegula, the 28th seed, who came through 6-3, 6-3 against Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic.
Karolina Pliskova’s chequered clay-court season was brought to an end by Sloane Stephens, who beat the ninth seed 7-5, 6-1. Pliskova, who recently lost 6-0, 6-0 against Iga Swiatek in the final of the Italian Open, once again struggled to hit the high notes, making 38 unforced errors and struggling to find consistency on serve. Pliskova won just 38% of the points behind her second delivery.
“I thought I played very well,” said Stephens, who also beat the Czech en route to the final four years ago. “Karolina is such a great player and we’ve known each other for so long. It was nice to come out and play my game and execute well.”