PAINSWICK’S tennis ace Alicia Barnett will be making her debut at the French Open this week.

Barnett, who is a former Stroud High School pupil, is due to play on Wednesday (May 31) in the first round of the women’s doubles at Roland Garros with playing partner Olivia Nicholls.

This follows her debut at the Australian Open in January, her success representing Team GB over the last few months and last year’s memorable match at Wimbledon in which she and her playing partner Johny O’Mara knocked out Venus Williams and Jamie Murray.

Barnett and Nicholls were recently selected to play for Great Britain in their match against France in April’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier in Coventry.

On Wednesday they are due to face Italian star Martina Trevisan, ranked 18th in women’s singles plus her compatriot and playing partner Jasmine Paolini in a tasty first round match.

Other standout names in the women’s doubles draw include Coco Gauff, Victoria Azarenka and Jelena Ostapenko.

Wednesday’s match means Barnett would have played in all four Grand Slams.

In women’s doubles, Barnett reached the first round of the Australian Open this year, plus the first round of the US Open last year and the second round of Wimbledon last year.

Barnett and O’Mara were knocked out of the quarter-finals in mixed doubles at Wimbledon last year, coming up short against eventual runners-up Matthew Ebden and Samantha Stosur.

During the tournament Barnett opened up about the stress of wearing Wimbledon whites while being on her period and the symptoms affecting her play.

Barnett said she hoped the taboo around periods would continue to be worn down by players increasingly speaking about it, leading to funding for more female-focused research into training techniques.

Barnett, who is known by her friends as Lissey, said: “During the pre-qualifying, I was on my period and the first few days were really heavy, and I was a bit stressed about that.”

“Your body feels looser, your tendons get looser, sometimes you feel like you’re a lot more fatigued, sometimes your co-ordination just feels really off.”