No. 1 seed Ash Barty withdraws from French Open due to hip injury

No. 1 seed Ash Barty withdrew from her second-round match at the French Open on Thursday because of a left hip injury that had flared up during training. Barty trailed 1-6, 2-2 when she signaled that she couldn’t continue against Magda Linette on Court Philippe Chatrier. The 25-year-old Barty began the match with her left thigh bandaged, and it was immediately clear she could not move properly. Too slow to chase her opponent’s shots, she suffered in long rallies and struggled with her first serve.The 2019 champion called for a medical timeout at the end of the opening set, then briefly left the court for treatment. She stopped after Linette hit an ace. Barty then walked to the net to shake the 45th-ranked player’s hand.

Leading up to the 2021 French Open, Barty played 13 matches on clay, winning 11. She posted a record of 27-5 and won three singles titles before Roland Garros.  She withdrew from the quarterfinals in Rome in May because of an injury to her right arm, but said that injury had healed and did not hamper her in Paris.

Barty said: “It’s heartbreaking. We have had such a brilliant clay-court season, and to kind of get a little bit unlucky with timing, more than anything, to have something kind of acute happen over the weekend and just kind of run out of time against the clock is disappointing. 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. Again, today it was no better and getting worse again.”