Ashleigh Barty coming out of tennis retirement to return to Wimbledon

BARRY-BEBÉ (AP)

Former world number one Ashleigh Barty will play at Wimbledon next month for the first time since winning the title in 2021.

The Australian retired after winning the 2022 Australia Open, ending the country’s 44-year wait for a singles title at the tournament, and she did not return to defend her singles crown.

But the All England Club has announced the 28-year-old will play in the invitational doubles at this year’s tournament, which starts on July 1.

Announcing the news on Instagram, the Wimbledon club said: “Reunited with the Wimbledon grass. Delighted to have our 2021 singles champion Ash Barty returning for this year’s Invitation Doubles.”

Barty, who gave birth to a son, Hayden, in July 2023, and fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios will join BBC Sport to provide analysis and commentary at Wimbledon.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, who retired in 2020, reached the final of the invitational doubles at Wimbledon in 2023 before returning to the WTA Tour.

It will be the first time Barty takes to a tennis court at a major event since announcing her retirement two years ago at the age of 25, when she held the Wimbledon and Australian Open Grand Slam titles.

In the 2021 Wimbledon women’s final, Barty beat Karolina Pliskova, and became the second Indigenous Australian to win the coveted trophy.

Since her retirement, she has featured in golf tournaments, but has not returned to professional sport. When she took a previous break from tennis in 2015-2016, she went on to represent Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, having not played competitive cricket beforehand.

With reporting from PA