Wozniacki doubt for French

CAROLINE Wozniacki’s French Open preparations suffered a hit as she was forced to retire at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

The former world No 1 and top seed was a set down to American Shelby Rogers i n her opening match when she pulled out citing back trouble.

Wozniacki said: “I felt it kind of in the middle of the first set. At this point, I think it’s important for me to try and get ready for the French Open and be 100% for that.”

Rogers, the world No 55, won the one set played on a tie-break in just over an hour. She will now play China’s Qiang Wang.

Second seed Elena Vesnina also went out after losing 1-6 6-1 6-1 to Camila Giorgi.

Fifth seed Caroline Garcia went through with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Jennifer Brady while seventh seed Daria Gavrilova beat Louisa Chirico 6-2 6-3.

Meanwh i le , K a z a k h s t a n ’s M i k h a i l Ku k u s h k i n s e t u p a second-round clash with world No 9 Kei Nishikori by seeing off qualifier Roberto Marcora at the Geneva Open.

Kukushkin, ranked 88, overcame the Italian 6-2 6-2 in 63 minutes in the first round of the clay-court event.

Sixth seed Sam Querrey saw off German qualifier Daniel Altmaier 6-3 6-4 but seventh Paolo Lorenzi was beaten 7-5 7-6 by South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.

At t h e Lyo n O p e n , U z b e k i s t a n ’s D e n i s Istomin, the world No 81, booked a clash with top seed Milos Raonic by b e a t i n g Au s t r a l i a ’s Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3 6-4.

Caroline Wozniacki