World No 1 Ashleigh Barty is out of the French Open after being forced to retire in the middle of her second-round match against Magda Linette of Poland.
Barty had experienced what she described as a “flare-up” in her left hip at the weekend, and the injury has refused to settle. It didn’t stop her from overcoming Bernarda Pera in the opening round, but she admitted during Monday’s post-match press conference that she was not 100 per cent.
Against Linette today, Barty was moving sluggishly from the start. Linette is a tough competitor and exploited the advantage ruthlessly as she took the first set by a 6-1 margin.
Barty then left the court for a medical time-out, and seemed to be feeling a little better as she established a 2-1 lead in the early stages of the second set. But after Linette had levelled at 2-2, Barty put her racket back in her bag and shook hands.
The decision was probably made in the hope of giving Barty more time to recover before Wimbledon. Certainly, she had no prospect of going far in this event, such was her physical disadvantage.
Barty’s withdrawal leaves fifth seed Elina Svitolina – who beat the USA’s Ann Li this morning by a 6-0, 6-4 scoreline – as the highest-ranked player in the top quarter of the draw. It is the bottom quarter, though, that is still the most unpredictable area.
With Naomi Osaka also out of the tournament, there are only two seeds left among the eight players still standing in the bottom quarter: 2019 finalist Marketa Vondrousova and in-form Spaniard Paula Badosa.
None of this changes the fact that defending champion Iga Swiatek remains the runaway favourite with the bookmakers.
12:11 PM
Last Brit standing
We are going to take a slight detour from watching Monfils to Cameron Norrie, who is the only British player left in the singles draw.
Norrie is playing South Africa’s Lloyd Harris.
12:02 PM
Game on
45 minutes ago Monfils looked like he couldn’t move and would have to retire.
But he’s now claimed the second set 6-2 in convincing fashion. Ymer had no real idea how to respond to Monfils’ comeback.
11:53 AM
Injury? What injury?
Monfils now leads 5-1 as he continues to blast his way around Suzanne Lenglen.
Seemingly a miraculous recovery from the Frenchman.
11:47 AM
Completed matches so far today
Men’s Singles – Second Round
Matteo Berrettini (9), Italy, def. Federico Coria, Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Women’s Singles – Second Round
Elena Vesnina, Russia, def. Petra Kvitova (11), Czech Republic, walkover.
Ons Jabeur (25), Tunisia, def. Astra Sharma, Australia, 6-2, 6-4.
Elina Svitolina (5), Ukraine, def. Ann Li, United States, 6-0, 6-4.
Jessica Pegula (28), United States, def. Tereza Martincova, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3.
Sofia Kenin (4), United States, def. Hailey Baptiste, United States, 7-5, 6-3.
Karolina Muchova (18), Czech Republic, def. Varvara Lepchenko, United States, 6-3, 6-4.
Marta Kostyuk, Ukraine, def. Zheng Saisai, China, 6-3, 6-4.
Magda Linette, Poland, def. Ashleigh Barty (1), Australia, 6-1, 2-2, ret.
11:38 AM
Monfils battles on
Whatever the physio did during the break has worked because Monfils is a different player.
He’s broken Ymer and is swinging freely although the speed on his serve has dropped.
The Frenchman leads 2-1.
11:27 AM
Monfils returns
Monfils does return to court and wins the opening point to the delight of the French fans.
But will it be a short-lived reprieve?
11:23 AM
More injury woe
Hometown hero Gael Monfils has struggled with form and confidence over the past 12 months.
And it seems injury is about to end his Roland Garros dreams for another year.
Monfils has lost the first set to Mikael Ymer 6-0 and left the court for a medical timeout after barely being able to move.
We await to see whether he can continue.
11:13 AM
Barty out
Just as I join you, we’ve had our first major upset of the day and 2019 champion Ashleigh Barty is out.
She had been struggling with injury coming into the tournament and needed treatment on Tuesday to get through her first round match.
But against Magda Linette, the world No 1 lost the first set 6-1 and once again required treatment. However, after just four games Barty put down her racket and retired from the match.
11:03 AM
Good afternoon
Hello and welcome to coverage from day five of the French Open.
Today has all the makings of being a blockbuster day with the ‘Big Three’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to come and the last Brit standing Cameron Norrie on the due on court.
It has been a dramatic few days in Paris with Naomi Osaka’s shock withdrawal from the event. A number of other seeds have tumbled out of the draw but yesterday world No 2 Daniil Medvedev fought back from a set down to beat unseeded American Tommy Paul and advance to the third round, his best showing at Roland Garros after being knocked out in the first round of the tournament in the four previous years.
Meanwhile, seventh seed Serena Williams was pushed the distance but beat Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 to move into the third round.
Speaking on Eurosport, 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert felt Williams is playing herself into form.
She said: “One thing you can still say about Serena is that she always steps it up a level on the big points. She hasn’t forgotten about the ebbs and flows of a match, when she has to turn it on, when she needs to focus a little more. Buzarnescu lost a lot of break points, the big points, because Serena just came on top and she hasn’t lost that instinct to play well when there is danger.
“Serena is coming back pretty quickly – before this tournament she only had three matches. She’s looking better and better, moving smoother on the clay, and she’s being patient.
“In the next match against Danielle Collins, look for fireworks because this is a feisty young player. Danielle has come on strong, she hits the ball hard and flat and you will feel her presence on court. It will match Serena Williams – they are both strong-minded and we could have a clash of the titans in that match. I’m really looking forward to it.”