On the fifth day of the Roland-Garros tournament, two of the headliners in women’s tennis have already left Porte d’Auteuil. After the package, Monday May 31, by Naomi Osaka (2e in the WTA ranking), the no World 1 Ashleigh Barty retired Thursday, June 3, due to injury.
2019 Roland-Garros winner, Australian Ashleigh Barty left the tournament in the second round due to injury, when she was led 6-1, 2-2 by Poland’s Magda Linette (45e). Visibly suffering from a lower back, Barty had left the Philippe-Chatrier court to be manipulated at the end of the first set, but she finally threw in the towel after four games in the second.
Removed from the circuit for almost a year due to the health crisis, Barty reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne in February and was one of the title contenders on Parisian clay. She remained however on another abandonment, because of a sore arm, in quarters in Rome.
Magda Linette, she will face the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (26e) for a place in the round of 16.
No faux pas for Svitolina
Series head no 5, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina disposed of the American Ann Li (75e world) in two sets (6-0, 6-4). If Li didn’t exist in the first set, she managed to break free in the second, leading 4-1. A promising player with a powerful forehand, she may regret not having converted her many break points.
Svitolina, she knew how to tighten the game when it was necessary and imposed herself with authority. The companion in the city of Gaël Monfils, who stopped at the quarter-finals in 2020, will face for a place in the eighth the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, a specialist in doubles.
