The French Open prospects of Australia's top-ranked woman are in doubt, with Samantha Stosur forced to withdraw from her warm-up tournament with a wrist injury.
The 32-year-old defending champion and third seed at the Strasbourg International was in impressive form this week, cruising to the quarter-finals with a crushing straight-sets victory over Hsieh Su-Wei.
But ahead of her showdown with No.10 seed Caroline Garcia, the luckless veteran succumbed to injury just days out from the claycourt grand slam in Paris.
"I have had some pain in my left wrist for the last few days," the world No.23 said on Thursday.
"I tried to practise (on Wednesday) and felt a lot of discomfort and, unfortunately, I can't take to the court.
"It's difficult as I've rarely had to withdraw from a match in my career.
"I've played some good tennis here this week and I'm disappointed I won't be able to properly defend my title here in Strasbourg."
A former French Open finalist, Stosur was expected to lead the charge for the Australian women at the tournament which begins on Sunday night (AEST).
The latest setback continues the Australian's injury woes this season, with Stosur taking an injured right wrist into the Australian Open at the start of the year.
That ended in disaster, with the US Open winner bundled out in the first round following a straight-sets defeat to Czech qualifier Kristyna Pliskova.
Share
