Aussie tennis legend fumes at Ash Barty accusation during French Open scare

Ash Barty has had to fight hard in her first match at the scene of her greatest triumph after a concerning sight put a scare through the Aussie.

Ash Barty was given quite a scare.

Ash Barty’s unofficial French Open title defence has kicked off with a win but it was far from convincing as the Aussie star struggled with a troublesome injury against American world No. 70 Bernarda Pera.

In her first visit back to Roland Garros since her 2019 victory, Barty was on fire in the first set but her play fell off a cliff in the second as she was hampered in her movement. But it couldn’t stop the world No. 1 from claiming a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory.

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The injury appears to have come from back in February at the Australian Open where she first had her left thigh heavily strapped in a doubles match with American partner Jennifer Brady.

It also comes after she pulled out of the Italian Open with an arm injury.

After the second set, Barty required a medical timeout on the court, stretching out the injury. Post-match she said it was an issue with her left hip.

“It’s going to be a little bit tough this week. I think over the weekend we had a bit of a flare-up through my left hip, which obviously just needed a bit of help today,” she said.

“I’m not going to hide behind the fact I’m not quite 100 per cent but I can guarantee that I will go out there with the right attitude every day and be really accepting of that and give it a crack no matter what.”

While Barty stayed on the court, a “fan” got under the skin of former Aussie tennis star and four-time Olympian Rennae Stubbs by accusing Barty of “faking” the injury.

“Don’t be ridiculous!!! There is one thing I can assure you, Ash Barty is FAR from a faker. She would NEVER disrespect an opponent in faking an injury,” Stubbs angrily tweeted.

“@ashbarty IS SOO far away from doing anything like this as gamesmanship!!!! There is no one in the game as good a sport than Ash. So take your stupid and shove it somewhere it doesn’t shine. OK!”

Hopefully the injury doesn’t affect the rest of Barty’s tournament.

Many blamed a medical time-out for Barty’s loss to Karolina Muchova in the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Barty said she won because she just never gave up, battling back as Pera began to miss her shots.

“I just keep fighting,” she said. “I just keep trying and trying to stay in the match as long as possible and you never know.

“I was able to build a bit more pressure in that third set which was important, but Bernarda Pera played an incredible match. It was nice to be out here on this beautiful court so hopefully I get another chance in a couple of days.”

While Barty powered to win the first set 6-4, Pera showed she wasn’t going to go away easily. The pair broke regularly as the left-handed American proved difficult for Barty to put away.

Pera continued her momentum into the second set, racing to 3-0 before the concern for Barty’s movement began. The commentators began questioning whether the taping on Barty’s leg was for more than just support.

Todd Woodbridge said “she’s not able to put the power through the legs”.

The third set went on serve, with Barty hanging in at 3-2. The longer the match went on, the more wild Pera’s shots became with Barty breaking in the sixth and eighth games to take the contest in two hours.

Barty was all smiles at the end.

Barty won her first and as yet only grand slam title of her career at Roland Garros in 2019 before she skipped the 2020 edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Barty stayed at home during the 2020 season, Iga Swiatek took out the title, becoming the first Polish player to win a grand slam singles title.

It’s why Swiatek is the favourite at Roland Garros in 2021, but Barty is in irresistible form. The Queenslander won the Stuttgart Open and made the final of the Madrid Open before retiring with an arm injury from the Italian Open despite being ahead of Coco Gauff in their quarterfinal.

So in her return to the Philippe-Chatrier Stadium, Barty said it meant a lot to claim the win.

“It’s so special to be back,” she said. “I was so disappointed not to be able to play last year but this court is incredible for me, it’s very close to my heart.”