Leg injury forces world No. 1 Barty out of Dubai championship

FILE – Australia’s Ashleigh Barty during her quarter final match against Czech Republic’s Karolína Muchova REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake

World number one Ashleigh Barty will not compete at the Dubai Championships next week because of a leg injury, she said in a statement on Monday.

“Unfortunately I have withdrawn from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a left leg injury,” she said in a statement published by the WTA.

“I look forward to competing again in Miami in a few weeks’ time.”

Barty, who also dropped out of the Qatar Open currently underway in Doha, is the reigning champion at Miami.

Unseeded American Danielle Collins sent an out-of-sorts Barty crashing out of the Adelaide International in the second round last month.

Collins seized on some poor serving from the Australian to claim a convincing 6-3, 6-4 win in just 65 minutes.

It was Collins’ first win over Barty in three encounters and her first win against a current world number one.