By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, June 3, 2021
Hobbled by a hip injury, world No. 1 Ash Barty retired from Roland Garros while trailing Magda Linette 6-1, 2-2 in the second round.
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Playing with taping around her left thigh, Ashleigh Barty's Roland Garros return unraveled today.
Hobbled by a left hip injury, world No. 1 Barty retired from Roland Garros while trailing Magda Linette 6-1, 2-2 in today's second round.
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A pained Barty, who carried a 14-3 clay-court record onto court, experienced an anguished end to a strong clay season that saw her win Stuttgart, defeat reigning Roland Garros Iga Swiatek en route to the Madrid final and reach the Rome quarterfinals where she retired to Coco Gauff.
"It's heartbreaking," Barty said. "I mean, 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.
"It won't take away the brilliant three months that we have had, as much as it hurts right now."
The 2019 Roland Garros champion couldn't not push up and out on serve—Barty served just 39 percent today and won only eight of 20 second-serve points—and seemed to struggle moving to her right to cover her forehand wing.
Barty, who called it "a small miracle" she was able to navigate the injury and win her opener vs. Bernarda Pera, initially sustained the fluke injury in an acute landing on a serve during a practice session the weekend before the French Open began. Ultimately, it brought her Roland Garros run to an end.
"I mean, there's a lot to it, to kind of how I'm feeling and the restrictions I had within my game," Barty said. "The serve was the biggest one. It was essentially I was trying to roll my arm over these last kind of four or five days and taking my legs out of it, which is a challenge in itself.
"But, yeah, it's just a bridge too far this week, which is disappointing to know that we have done all the right things to get to this point. We had a fantastic lead-up. And for my body to let me down is really disheartening, but knowing that we also, we did nothing wrong. It's something that can't be explained at this time."
The retirement snaps Barty's eight-match Roland Garros win streak; it's her earliest exit from a Grand Slam since the 2018 French Open when she fell to Serena Williams in three sets.
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From the outset, Barty showed signs of struggle.
The 25-year-old Aussie denied three break points in her opening service game to level after two games. Barty won that battle, but lacked the explosive first step and closing speed she typically brings to court.
Linette surged through five straight games snatching a one-set lead in 36 minutes.
Though Barty left the court for treatment after the first set, The Aussie received off-court treatment after the first set, but played just four more games.
The 45th-ranked Linette laced an ace to hold for 2-2 in the second set when Barty, whose movement looked clearly compromised, walked to net to shake hands and pull the plug on her tournament.
The top-seeded Barty is the fourth Top 10 seed to depart the draw, joining world No. 2 Naomi Osaka, who pulled out after revealing she's been battling depression since the 2018 US Open, 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who lost in the opening round and 10th-seeded Belinda Bencic, who fell to Daria Kasatkina in the second round yesterday.
Linette advanced to the Roland Garros third round for the second time where she will play Ons Jabeur for a spot in the round of 16. The 25th-seeded Jabeur swept Aussie Astra Sharma 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round for the third time in four appearances in Paris.
"I wish Barty a good recovery," Jabeur said. "I know she has been playing a lot of matches. I honestly wanted to play her, but Magda is a great player.
"I think we played each other, like, long time ago. I mean, I'm going to be ready, I'm going to play my game, and I will try to get the win."
Stuttgart champion Barty battled the left hip injury and persistent Bernarda Pera battling through the final four games in a gritty 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 first-round victory for her eighth straight win in Paris. After prevailing through a tough opener, Barty conceded she would not be physically fit for the rest of the fortnight.
Now, Barty will rest and rehab and search for the silver lining in a painful, premature exit.
"It's something, it's really disappointing," Barty said. "But like I said, we have had an exceptional last two, two-and-a-half, three months, a little bit of a setback, and what happened today and this week here in Paris won't take away from that. We have had a brilliant, brilliant time.
"It's disappointing to end like this. I mean, I've had my fair share of tears this week. It's all good. Everything happens for a reason. There will be a silver lining in this eventually. Once I find out what that is, it'll make me feel a little bit better, but it will be there, I'm sure."