World No. 1 Ash Barty is facing a challenge to overcome the persistent hip complaint that ended her French Open in time to feature at Wimbledon.
Barty retired four games into the second set of her match against Polish world No. 45 Magda Linette on Court Philippe-Chatrier last night.
“The signs weren’t good in the warm-up,” tennis broadcaster Brett Phillips told SEN Breakfast.
“She was struggling to drive through the legs and get that full extension where she can get a nice pop on her serve.
“(And) when her opponent was dragging her forward with a couple of nice drop shots, she just couldn’t push off that hip.”
Barty took a six minute medical timeout after conceding the opening set and returned looking more powerful, but it was short-lived.
“She tried to blow her way through the first part of the second set and just hit out basically, and that didn’t make it any better,” Phillips went on.
The host of The First Serve believes it is too early to say whether Barty needs to go under the knife.
“She needs some good ‘r and r,’ just to rest up the body. She’s played a lot of tennis,” he explained.
“It could be the micro-tears where if you’re constantly doing something repetitively, it’s going to make it worse.
“She probably needs to put the racket down and stop for a good week or two, but obviously Wimbledon is close.”
After the tournament was last year cancelled for the first time since the Second World War, Wimbledon will commence on June 28.
“Whether she’s going to be able to get up for the grass - she loves the grass, and it’s nice and kind on the body - we’ll have to wait and see,” Phillips said.
“She’s got great perspective though, Ash Barty. It’s not the end of the world, it’s not dire straits, it’s a little hiccup. She’s had a great year so far.”
From the Miami Open in late March through to the first round at Roland-Garros, the 2019 French Open champion notched 20 wins and just three losses.
“It’s disappointing, but we’ve had an exceptional two and a half, three months,” Barty told reporters after the match.
“What happened today and this week in Paris won’t take away from that. We’ve had a brilliant time.”