"It became worse while we were playing" - Barty reveals reason for retirement in Rome quarterfinal

Top seed Ashleigh Barty was forced to retire in her quarterfinal match against Coco Gauff at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome on Friday, granting the American passage to her maiden WTA 1000-level semifinal.

Overcoming a two-hour rain delay which interrupted the first set, Barty was able to regain her momentum and clinch the first set. While leading 6-4, 2-1 with Gauff on serve, the World No.1 requested a medical timeout to assess the pain in her right arm. Despite putting on a compression sleeve, she was unable to continue and had to forfeit the match.

"It became worse while we were playing," Barty said of the pain in her arm. "So I think that's the challenging thing is to make the decision to stop. It's never nice. It's the thing that I hate the most is not being able to finish a tennis match.

"But the pain was becoming too severe, so it was important that I listen to my body and of course try and do the right thing, knowing that we have a Grand Slam in two weeks' time."

This is Barty's first retirement in nearly three years, and she revealed that she has been dealing with this specific injury for most of her career.

"I hate withdrawing. I hate pulling out of a match halfway through. It's not in my makeup, not what I like to do, but it was really important today that I listen to what my body was telling me to make sure that in a couple weeks' time we're good to go," Barty said.

"It's something I have had to manage over my career. It's an injury that began when I was quite young, when I was 15 or 16 years old. It just pops up every now and again."

The World No.1 has about two weeks to recuperate before Roland Garros, with main-draw action commencing on May 30.