Ashleigh Barty's French Open campaign came to an end in sad circumstances on Thursday as the world number one was forced to retire hurt when 1-6 2-2 down against Magda Linette.
Barty required medical attention during her first-round win over Bernarda Pera two days earlier, with a hip injury a cause for concern.
The 25-year-old – back at Roland Garros for the first time since winning her maiden grand slam title in Paris in 2019 – vowed to "play through the pain barrier", yet the injury proved too much to deal with on Thursday.
Barty's retirement throws the draw wide open, with both of the top seeds now out after Naomi Osaka decided to withdraw amid her disagreement with tournament organisers.
Barty's discomfort seemed evident from the off, though Linette did have to fend off an immediate break point to hold in the first game.
The Australian had to claw back three break points on her first serve, however, and a double fault in game four handed Linette the first break, with Barty clearly struggling when attempting to twist to her right.
A lame backhand into the net gifted Linette another break, and the Pole served out the set at the first time of asking with just 36 minutes on the clock.
After a lengthy delay in which she received treatment both on court and back in the changing rooms, Barty returned with seemingly renewed vigour to hold the first game of set two with relative ease.
Linette, though, kept her composure, with a couple of aces helping her level things up, and despite winning the next game thanks to her speed of serve, Barty was grimacing again.
Some excellent returns from Barty kept Linette at bay, but the world number 45 struck a powerful serve down the middle to make it 2-2, and that proved the final straw for her opponent, who shook hands at the net and, with a wave to the crowd, trudged down the tunnel.
DATA SLAM: BARTY'S BRAVE FACE NOT ENOUGH
Linette has claimed one of the biggest wins of her career, though the 29-year-old would have wished for it to come in more glorious circumstances. Barty tried her best to continue, but the injury was having too much of an impact on the key parts of her game – she made four double faults to Linette's zero, and tallied up 18 unforced errors, double the amount of her opponent.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Barty – 9/18
Linette – 12/9
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Barty – 2/4
Linette – 4/0
BREAK POINTS WON
Barty – 0/1
Linette – 2/7
Djokovic: Murray is 'perfect' coach to help execute 'big plans'
Novak Djokovic believes former rival Andy Murray is the "perfect" coach for him at this stage of his career as he still has "big plans".
The Serb, a 24-time grand slam winner, announced last week that Murray, who retired after the Paris Olympics, would be working with him during the off-season and through the Australian Open.
Djokovic failed to win a major title for the first time since 2017, though he did clinch a long-awaited Olympic gold medal in August. It is also the first time since 2005 that he did not win an ATP event despite reaching two finals.
Djokovic admitted Murray did not agree to the role straight away, but he thinks it is the best decision he could have come to.
"I took about six months to figure out what I needed at this stage of my career," he told Sky Sports.
"I realised the perfect coach would be someone who has been through the experiences I'm going through, possibly a multiple grand slam winner and world number one.
"We discussed Andy Murray, and I said I would give him a call and see how it goes. It caught him a little off guard. We connected really fast, and he accepted after a few days.
"I couldn't be more excited about it. This collaboration is a surprise to everyone, including me, but it's exciting for tennis."
Djokovic is currently level with Margaret Court for the most major singles titles by any player and needs one more to become the outright leader.
He has a good record in Australia, winning 10 times in Melbourne, beating Murray in four of those finals, with the first major of next season starting on January 12.
The 37-year-old is the only one of the 'Big Four' still playing after Murray and Rafael Nadal's retirements this year, and Roger Federer's in 2022, but he shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
"We all know we have to stop and say goodbye at some point," he added. "Even though it was expected for Rafa and Andy, both of them saying farewell to the sport is a shock for all of us.
"My body is serving me well; I still have motivation to win grand slams. The reason I asked Andy to work with me is because I still have big plans.
"I'll keep going as much as I can feel like I can keep being a candidate for the biggest titles."
Halep questions 'big difference' in doping punishments after Swiatek ban
Simona Halep has hit out at the "big difference" in how doping cases are handled in tennis after Iga Swiatek was handed a one-month ban on Thursday.
World number two Swiatek accepted the one-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ), the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Halep, meanwhile, was provisionally suspended in October 2022 after testing positive for roxadustat and later banned for four years in September 2023.
The ban was then reduced to nine months after the Romanian's appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March this year.
"I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgement?" Halep posted on Instagram.
"I can't find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from ITIA, the organisation that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence."
While reducing Swiatek's ban, the ITIA accepted that the positive test was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medication melatonin which the five-time Grand Slam champion took for jet lag and sleep issues.
Halep, 33, had also argued that she had taken a contaminated supplement.
"I lost two years of my career, I lost many nights when I couldn't sleep, thoughts, anxiety, questions without answers," Halep said.
"How is it possible that in identical cases happening around the same time, ITIA to have completely different approaches to my detriment?"
Meanwhile, the ITIA has said that there were "very important differences" between the two cases.
"No two cases are the same, they often involve different circumstances, and direct comparisons are not always helpful," the ITIA told BBC Sport.
"The product contaminated in Ms Swiatek's case was a regulated medication, not a supplement."
Swiatek accepts one-month suspension after testing positive for banned substance
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for a banned substance.
The world number two tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication known as TMZ, after providing an out-of-competition sample in August 2024. She was world number one at the time.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) have determined the source was a contaminated nonprescription medication, melatonin, used for issues with jet lag and sleeping.
The ITIA thus concluded that Swiatek was not responsible for significant fault or negligence in the test. Therefore, the suspension will last just one month.
ITIA chief executive Karen Moorhouse said: "Once the source of the TMZ had been established, it became clear that this was a highly unusual instance of a contaminated product, which in Poland is a regulated medicine.
"However, the product does not have the same designation globally, and the fact that a product is a regulated medication in one country cannot of itself be sufficient to avoid any level of fault. Taking into account the nature of the medication, and all the circumstances, it does place that fault at the lowest end of the scale."
It is the second high-profile doping case this year, as Jannik Sinner failed two tests for a steroid in March but was cleared in August.
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