Barty opens up on Wimbledon return

Well, Ash Barty sent fans into a frenzy when she announced her return to the world's most prestigious tennis tournament, Wimbledon, the very tournament she won back in 2021. She did. And when she touched down in London, of course, 9's Tony Jones was right there to check in on her preparations. Let's go down to the tennis court and talk it up. Like, yeah, well, Ash back at Wimbledon. I know it's strange, bizarre to be back, but very excited nonetheless. And we'll talk about why you're at this part of Wimbledon in a moment. But how did I suspect it was Casey Delacworth who convinced you? How did she ever convince you to take part in the double S? No, obviously the tournament reached out. It's it's it's a very special event. It's exciting. It gets so many of the good ex players back together to go out there, enjoy the grass and and I of course, accepted it. I was like, absolutely, I'll I'll be here. But I I did request if I could play with case and get the old, the old band back together. So it's going to be nice to get out there with case and and strike a few again. I hope she's been practicing. She's got a lot of load to carry coming back here, though. Does it does it bring it all back? Does it bring back the struggling days? Does it bring back the glory days? It's, it brings back this really unique feeling of, of a place where my, my dream came true. It was, it was walking through the gates again that was absorbing all reflecting. And it's amazing that it's a lot of the memories, the memories that come flooding back of the emotions, not so much the forehands on the back ends of the serves, but it's the emotions that came with that moment. So it was very special walking, walking in the gates for the first time. Once news broke that Ash Barty was returning to tennis, albeit in the exhibition at Wimbledon, it did get the conjecture going about, well, is this just dipping a toe in the water and maybe, maybe there's going to be a comeback? No, this is, this is the comeback. This is the only comeback for an exhibition for for fun, for enjoyment to to entertain people who are at Wimbledon to enjoy the whole event, who were there to obviously watch the best players in the world go about their business and and see who the champion will be. But I'm I'm excited to play a very small part in it. The other reason you are here is you're spruiking a bit of Australiana. It's, it's amazing to work with an iconic Aussie brand. Tim Tam. They're coming to the UK. There's Aussies everywhere here. They're going to love it. I'm, I'm a proud Aussie. I love to work with iconic Australian companies because I feel like we share the same values. We, we love being Australian. We love what we, what we bring to the table all around the world. But there's nothing better than sitting at the table with a, with a cup of coffee and A and a biggie. It's pretty good. What if, what if you step onto the court and you start hitting them well and you think to yourself, Oh, this isn't too bad actually. The, the first challenge will be hitting the ball well. The first challenge is finding the middle of the racket. But absolutely not. I'm here to have a good time with, with my best mate. I'm very grateful and very lucky that I'm in a position where I get to come out and do something that I've loved with one of my best mates. The best place to play tennis in the world and you've got another best mate out here with you, albeit a little bloke by the name of Hayden. Yes, it's, it's nice to obviously have my family here. It's a special place for me, a special place for us. So you travelled well and we're having a good time. You know, having children gives you perspective and sort of prioritizing things. And is that one of the reasons why, you know, people say never say never, but you are almost saying never. I, I don't know how much more I can be with saying never. I've, I've, honestly, I, I love my life, you know, I, I had such a full career, such an amazing journey. And this is just the next chapter of my life. Great. So good to see her. Yeah, I'm not a little Haydos. I love her honesty and oh, you're so cute. Great Queensland name, isn't it? Obviously after Matt Hayden, the great cricketer, is it? I don't think it is. I don't think so either.