Ashleigh Barty struggled with a left hip injury during her second-round match against Magda Linette at the French Open on Thursday, leading the world’s No. 1 ranked player to retire from the match and exit the tournament.
Barty first experienced the injury just before arriving at Roland Garros, and felt it flare up again during the match.
Barty bemoans poor timing
Linette won the first set 6-1. Barty left the court for medical treatment afterward, then came out to begin the second set. While the two players were knotted at 2-2, Barty withdrew at that point, saying the injury was just too much to deal with. “It’s heartbreaking,†Barty said of the injury. “It’s a miracle I got past the first round. We did absolutely everything we could to give myself a chance. It sucks.â€
Barty was enjoying an excellent season before the French Open. She built a 27-5 record overall, including an 11-2 mark during the clay-court season, positioning herself as one of the favorites at Roland Garros.
But the 25-year-old felt an old injury return against just before the tournament started.
“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,†Barty said.
Barty, who won the French Open in 2019, opened the tournament as the +500 second choice at FanDuel Sportsbook. That trailed only defending champion Iga Swiatek (+280).
Swiatek nearly even money to win French Open
A series of withdrawals has pushed Swiatek into a more dominant position at most sportsbooks. Along with Barty, Naomi Osaka also left the tournament after choosing not to speak to the media and to prioritize her own mental well-being. 2018 French Open winner and world No. 3 Simona Halep pulled out before the tournament began due to her own injury.
That leaves Swiatek as the +125 pick to go all the way and pick up her second consecutive French Open title. Swiatek dominated the tournament last year, losing no more than five games in any match and winning every set on her way to victory.
| French Open Odds – Women’s Winner (via FanDuel Sportsbook) | |
| Iga Swiatek: +125 | |
| Aryna Sabalenka: +500 | Paula Badosa: +1100 |
| Coco Gauff: +1400 | Serena Williams: +1400 |
| Elina Svitolina: +2100 | Karolina Muchova: +2500 |
| Marketa Vondrousova: +3000 | Sofia Kenin: +3000 |
World No. 4 Aryna Sabalenka is the top-ranked player remaining in the draw, but she’s never made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, or the third round of the French Open. Nonetheless, she is the second choice at +500, ahead of Paula Badosa (+1100), Coco Gauff (+1400), and Serena Williams (+1400).
Meanwhile, the No. 8 seeded Swiatek continues to roll in the early going. After winning her first-round matchup 6-0, 7-5 over Kaja Juvan, she easily beat Rebecca Peterson 6-1, 6-1 in her second match on Thursday. The 20-year-old’s only career loss at the French Open came to Halep in 2019.
