Top seed Ashleigh Barty retired injured midway through the second set of her French Open second-round match against Poland’s Magda Linette on Thursday while defending champion Iga Swiatek eased into the third round with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson.
The Australian, who won the title on her last visit to Roland Garros in 2019, left the court for medical treatment after losing the first set 6-1. She had struggled with a hip problem during her first-round win and called it quits at 2-2 in the second set on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Unseeded Linette will face Tunisian 25th seed Ons Jabeur in the last 32.
Swiatek hasn’t dropped a set at Roland Garros in her last nine matches. The eighth-seeded Pole goes on to face Estonian 30th seed Anett Kontaveit for a place in the last 16.
Elsewhere, fourth seed and 2020 runner-up Sofia Kenin reached the last 32 with a 7-5, 6-3 win over qualifier and fellow American Hailey Baptiste.
Kenin, beaten by Iga Swiatek in last year’s final, goes on to face American 28th seed Jessica Pegula who defeated Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3.
Fifth seed Elina Svitolina was also through to the third round, blanking Ann Li 6-0, 6-4.
However, ninth seed Karolina Pliskova exited at the hands of 2018 runner-up Sloane Stephens as the 59th-ranked American won 7-5, 6-1.
Barty also retired injured from the Italian Open during her quarter-final against Coco Gauff last month.
The 25-year-old’s withdrawal leaves the tournament already without the world’s top three-ranked women’s players. World No 2Naomi Osaka stunned the sport by pulling out following a media boycott, saying she has suffered “bouts of depression” for three years.
Third-ranked Simona Halep, the 2018 French Open winner, withdrew before the event with injury.
That leaves world number four Aryna Sabalenka as the top remaining player in the draw, despite the Belarusian never having reached a Grand Slam quarter-final.
Results
Second round
Magda Linette (POL) bt Ashleigh Barty (AUS x1) 6-1, 2-2 - retired
Ons Jabeur (TUN x25) bt Astra Sharma (AUS) 6-2, 6-4
Coco Gauff (USA x24) bt Wang Qiang (CHN) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1)
Jennifer Brady (USA x13) bt Fiona Ferro (FRA) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
Sloane Stephens (USA) bt Karolina Pliskova (CZE x9) 7-5, 6-1
Karolina Muchova (CZE x18) bt Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 6-3, 6-4
Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) bt Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS x32) 6-2, 6-3
Elina Svitolina (UKR x5) bt Ann Li (USA) 6-0, 6-4
Sofia Kenin (USA x4) bt Hailey Baptiste (USA) 7-5, 6-3
Jessica Pegula (USA x28) bt Tereza Martincova (CZE) 6-3, 6-3
Maria Sakkari (GRE x17) bt Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 6-2, 6-3
Elise Mertens (BEL x14) bt Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Marta Kostyuk (UKR) bt Zheng Saisai (CHN) 6-3, 6-4
Varvara Gracheva (RUS) bt Camila Giorgi (ITA) 7-5, 1-6, 6-2
Anett Kontaveit (EST x30) bt Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 6-2, 6-0
Iga Swiatek (POL x8) bt Rebecca Peterson (SWE) 6-1, 6-1
With AFP Inputs
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