Boulter pulls out of Paris – and banks £20,000

Katie Boulter has withdrawn from the French Open a day after her name surprisingly appeared in the draw.

The British No 3 has not played since Britain’s Fed Cup victory over Kazakhstan last month, where she aggravated a back problem, and had been ruled out of the whole clay season.

Boulter posted a video of herself on social media on Thursday at the National Tennis Centre in London before travelling to Paris and pulling out of the tournament at Roland Garros yesterday morning.

By pulling out on site only two days before the tournament, Boulter was able to collect half the prize money she would have earned for a first-round defeat, approximately £20,000.

The rule was introduced at the grand slams last year to prevent players taking to the court with no realistic chance of finishing a first-round match just to collect the everincreasing prize money.

The withdrawn player takes home half the cheque while the other half goes to the lucky loser who takes their place.

An unintended consequence could be players staying in the draw until the last minute even though they have no intention of playing, although Boulter insisted that was not the case in this instance despite her late arrival in Paris.

The 22-year-old wrote on Twitter: “So disappointed to have to pull out of the French Open. I was still hoping to have a chance of competing but doctors have advised me not to take a risk with my back. Can’t wait to get back on court soon.”

Meanwhile Naomi Osaka will open her campaign against Slovak Anna Karolina Schmeidlova.

The 21-year-old is the top seed at a grand slam for the first time having held on to the world No 1 spot since winning her second consecutive major title in Australia in January.

She is faced with a tricky route with either Victoria Azarenka or former champion Jelena Ostapenko her opponent in round two.

Defending champion Simona Halep, meanwhile, is the third seed this time and takes on Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the opening round.

Halep won an overdue first slam title here 12 months ago having lost three times in previous finals, defeating Sloane Stephens in three sets.