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Australian veteran Samantha Stosur says a foot injury has prevented her making the trip to Paris for the French Open but she has no plans to retire.
Sam Stosur's absence from the French Open isn't a sign of her imminent retirement but rather a foot injury that frustratingly stalled her overseas tournament plans.
After spending all of 2020 in Australia through the COVID-19 pandemic, Stosur was targeting a return to Roland Garros, where she was a 2010 finalist.
But the 37-year-old said on Wednesday that she suffered the injury about seven weeks ago and it had taken longer than expected to heal.
"I took quite a long time to get better - longer than what we all thought so unfortunately I will miss one of my favourite events in the French Open this year but looking forward to getting started on the grass," Stosur said on Wednesday.
"It will be my first match in a long time; since the Aussie summer."
As well as Wimbledon and the other grass-court tournaments in the UK, Stosur wants to play in the Tokyo Olympics in late July.
A benefit of remaining in Australia is that she was able to get her COVID-19 vaccination which was offered to all prospective Olympians.
World No.133 Stosur is currently ranked fourth among Australian women, so her best chance is playing women's doubles, where she is the top-ranked player, and mixed doubles, where she made the Australian Open final with Matt Ebden.
"I'm still very, very keen to try and get there and the lists and cut-offs will be happening quite soon so hopefully I can sneak into the event," the former world No.4 and 2011 US Open champion said.
"A fifth Olympics is something I'd be very proud of."
Stosur said it would be hard to leave her partner and young daughter behind in Melbourne but she felt she still had something to give to the tennis tour.
"I want to go out there and see what I can do this year," she said.
"It is very different circumstances, it will be very hard to leave home, but I figure if I don't do it now I'm pretty much retired so I've got to go and do this year and hopefully next year can be kinder to everyone on the travel front."
