Australia's world number one Ashleigh Barty successfully defended her Miami Open title after Bianca Andreescu was forced to retire from their final after spraining an ankle ©Getty Images

Australia's world number one Ashleigh Barty successfully defended her Miami Open title after Bianca Andreescu was forced to retire from their final after spraining an ankle.

Barty led 6-3, 4-0 when her 20-year-old Canadian opponent turned her right ankle while chasing a ball, as she sought to avoid a double break in the second set at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida.

After a medical timeout Andreescu - who was out of action for 15 months after tearing her meniscus in the final tournament of a 2019 season in which she won the US Open - eventually retired.

Andreescu said she had wanted to continue but decided against it on the advice of her trainer Abdul Sillah.

"I really didn't want to stop but Abdul my fitness trainer, he basically saved me from myself," Andreescu said.

"Because I've been through that. 

"Just continuously pushing myself to the point where I'd make it worse.

"He just saved me from myself.

Australia's Ashleigh Barty retained her Miami Open title after Canada's Bianca Andreescu, left, was forced to retire at 6-3, 4-0 down because of an ankle injury ©Getty Images
Australia's Ashleigh Barty retained her Miami Open title after Canada's Bianca Andreescu, left, was forced to retire at 6-3, 4-0 down because of an ankle injury ©Getty Images

"I said 'I don't want to (retire)' but I trusted him and I knew it was the best decision."

After her win at the Women's Tennis Association 1000 tournament, Barty added: "It's brutal.

"It's never the way you want to finish a tennis match.

"I just feel for Bianca.

"She's had a lot of injuries in her very young career and it's held her back in some of the biggest moments.

"I hope for me it's the first of many battles for us but you never like to see her injured at all."

Barty, for whom 2019 was also a breakthrough year thanks to her victory at the French Open, has also missed a significant amount of action since, having decided not to travel last year as the pandemic took hold.

Since returning to the tour, the 24-year-old from Ipswich, Queensland has won 15 of her first 17 matches, earning two titles and maintaining her lead over Japan's Naomi Osaka - who lost in the quarter-finals - at the top of the women's world rankings.

Tomorrow the men's final will take place between Italy's 19-year-old Miami debutant Jannik Sinner - the youngest Association of Tennis Professionals Masters 1000 finalist since Rafael Nadal in Madrid in 2005 - and Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.

The Miami Open was hit by a series of withdrawals ahead of the event with Nadal, Austria's Dominic Thiem and Switzerland's Roger Federer opting to focus on the clay court season and Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic pulling out due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Tipped players Russia's Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Germany's Alexander Zverev all failed to advance to the semi-finals of the hard court tournament.