Ash Barty was forced to retire from her second round match. Photo / Getty
Ash Barty was forced to retire from her second round match. Photo / Getty
Ash Barty's French Open dream is over after the Aussie World No. 1 had to pull out of her second round match against Polish World No. 45 Magda Linette at 6-1 2-2 in the second set.
Barty, who won the French Open title last time she played the tournament in 2019, had far from the easiest first round match against Bernarda Pera, going three sets after being hampered by a hip injury.
But she made it through the match and hoped to be able to improve the longer she played.
She admitted she was "not 100 per cent" after picking up a left hip injury during the Australian summer of tennis.
Barty needed a medical timeout between the second and third sets in her 6-4 3-6 6-2 win over Pera, with some even accusing Barty of faking the injury.
But there was no doubt the Aussie was severely hampered by the injury against Linette, who played the match perfectly, running Barty around the court and racing to the 6-1 first set result.
The commentators were immediately discussing the issue as Barty appeared to struggle most with her serve majorly impacted while social media was immediately concerned by the sight of Barty well short of 100 per cent.
Ash Barty struggling mightily early on in her R2 clash with Magda Linette.
Down a break early in first set and clearly not close to 100%. Limited movement + serve.
After Linette ran away with the first set, Barty required a second medical timeout in successive matches with the physio and the doctor coming out on court before the World No. 1 had to go off for treatment.
Linette had done exactly what she needed to do, pushing Barty around the court and exploiting the injury concern.
Barty did come back from the MTO but was still not moving freely.
While she could hold her serve, it was more difficult when Linette could control the point, running Barty around the court, earning aces in the second service.
But at 2-2 in the second, Barty could play no more, informing the umpire that she was pulling out of the tournament.
Ashleigh Barty of Australia receives on court medical advice before retiring injured against Magda Linette of Poland. Photo / Getty
After the match, Barty revealed that the injury flare up came after "landing on serve one day, and that's all she wrote".
"It's heartbreaking," Barty said in her press conference. "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 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."
World reacts to Barty retirement
Barty had been in red hot form this season, winning the Stuttgart Open, making the final of the Madrid Open and pulling out in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open with an arm injury despite being well ahead against Coco Gauff.
But the hip injury flared up in the first round with Barty admitting that she was not fully fit.
"It's going to be a little bit tough this week. I think over the weekend we had a bit of a flare-up through my left hip, which obviously just needed a bit of help today," she said after Tuesday's match.
"I'm not going to hide behind the fact I'm not quite 100 per cent but I can guarantee that I will go out there with the right attitude every day and be really accepting of that and give it a crack no matter what."
"What a disappointment for Ash and all her fans," Todd Woodbridge said as Barty shook hands with Linette.
The outpourting of disappointment was immediate as fans took to social media.
Not a shock given her last 48 hours but Ashleigh Barty - top seed and kinda defending champ - retires from her @rolandgarros second round against Magda Linette. Whatever is Aussie for "bummer" this is it....
The result leaves just six of the top 13 WTA ranked players in the tournament.
With Wimbledon starting in just over three weeks on June 28, the commentators believed that Barty would need at least two weeks of rest to get back up to fitness for the grass grand slam.
Linette will face Ons Jabeur in the third round after she dispatched Aussie Astra Sharma in straight sets, after the all-Aussie showdown was well and truly spoiled.
