Ash Barty has been forced to retire in her semi-final clash at the Strasbourg International due to a back injury.
The 22-year-old walked off the court in tears while trailing Russian opponent Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 1-0.
.@NastiaPav advances to the @WTA_Strasbourg final!
— WTA (@WTA) May 25, 2018
Ashleigh Barty retires with the 🇷🇺 leading at 6-4, 1-0. pic.twitter.com/g9ruivnGak
Barty is racing the clock to be fit for the French Open with her first round match set to take place on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning AEST) against world No.81 Natalia Vikhlyantseva.
“I’ve never had it before but, hopefully with recovery in the next couple of days, I’ll still be able to play at Roland Garros," she said.
"We’ll see,” Barty added.
Barty hurt her back during her quarterfinals victory and tried to do everything she could to play through her maiden clay semi-final.
“I’ve never pulled out of a match in my career before so it was a very tough decision,” she said.
Barty is seeded 17th at Roland Garros.
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