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Ashleigh Barty is racing the clock to take her place in the French Open draw after suffering a despairing setback at the Strasbourg International.
Australia’s top-ranked tennis player was forced to retire from her maiden WTA clay-court singles semi-final with a lower back injury just two days out from the start of the Paris grand slam.
The top-seeded Barty was close to tears after walking off court while trailing Russian third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 1-0 on Friday.
Barty is the French Open’s 17th seed and due to face another Russian, world No.81 Natalia Vikhlyantseva, in the first round.
In one saving grace, Barty is expected to open her campaign on Tuesday, giving her four days to regain full fitness.
The 22-year-old could play 23-times grand slam champion Serena Williams in the second round at Roland Garros, if she recovers in time to play – and beat Vikhlyantseva.
Pavlyuchenkova will take on fifth seed Dominika Cibulkova in Saturday’s title match after the Slovakian overcame Romanian fourth seed Mihaela Buzarnescu 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 in her semi-final.
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