Bart withdraws from Strasbourg International

[May 21, 2019]    (Reuters) - Ashleigh Barty's French Open preparations suffered a blow on Tuesday when a right arm injury forced the Australian's withdrawal from the Strasbourg International.

Australia's Ashleigh Barty in action during her quarter final match against Romania's Simona Halep REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo

World number eight Barty pulled out of her opening round match against compatriot Daria Gavrilova.

"I felt that it was back. I tested myself, but this morning, I knew that I will not be able to play," the 23-year-old Barty told reporters.

"Next week there is Roland-Garros ... Then it's the grass season. I will have two very busy months. For now, the only thing to do is to spend two or three days without touching the racket. I hope that I will be 100 percent next week."

Top seed Barty was replaced in the Strasbourg tournament by Latvian lucky loser Diana Marcinkevica.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

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