Ashleigh Barty of Australia, the number one women’s player in the world, has had to withdraw from the 2021 French Open because of a hip injury. Barty was losing to Magda Linette of Poland, 6-1, 2-2 in the second round on Thursday, when she decided she could no longer continue.
Barty is now the third high-profile women’s tennis player to withdraw this week. However, it is the first time it was due to an on-court physical injury. Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic withdrew because of a fall she took during her press conference, while Naomi Osaka of Japan withdrew for mental health reasons.
Now the highest-seeded player left in the women’s draw is Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, at number three. One must realize Sabalenka has never reached a quarterfinals of a major before.
The best women’s singles matchup on Thursday was between the ninth-seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic and American Sloane Stephens. In an extremely impressive performance, Stephens came away with a 7-5, 6-1 win. Stephens had dropped to 65th in the world since winning the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, but was in fantastic form on Thursday, as she only had 13 unforced errors, compared to 24 by Pliskova.
An American will be involved in the best third round women’s matchup on Friday as well. The 23rd ranked Madison Keys will be up against reigning U.S. Open Finalist Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the 15th seed. Keys reached the U.S. Open final in 2017, in losing to Stephens.
Also on Thursday in men’s play, Roger Federer of Switzerland beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-2, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 in a four set thriller. This second round encounter featured a matchup of major champions. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal of Spain is now 17-0 against Richard Gasquet of France after a second round 6-0, 7-5, 6-2 win.
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