Former world number one Ashleigh Barty will return to the stage of her greatest triumph next month after Wimbledon organisers announced she will play in an invitational doubles match at this year’s championships.
Barty, who shockingly announced her retirement in March 2022, will compete alongside other former professionals in the exhibition event starting on the second Tuesday in southwest London.
It will be the first time she steps onto a tennis court in a major tournament since two years ago, when she stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement at the age of 25, as the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion.
Her decision to end her career came just seven weeks after breaking Australia’s 44-year streak of singles titles at the Melbourne Grand Slam, which was her third major championship after the 2019 French Open and 2021 Wimbledon titles.
Barty, now 28 and a mother after giving birth to her first child last year, shared a statement on Thursday from Wimbledon organisers saying they were “delighted” to see the 2021 singles champion return.
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Barty impressively hoisted the Venus Rosewater dish on Centre Court after beating Karolina Pliskova to become just the second Indigenous Australian woman to win a Wimbledon title, following the great Yvonne Goolagong-Cawley, who won in 1971 and 1980.
At the time of her retirement, the former Australian Young Player of the Year said tennis would always hold a special place in her heart but she was looking forward to the stress-free life of playing on the women’s tour.
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Since then, she has developed an interest in golf and in 2022 she starred in the Icon Series, a similar team exhibition event featuring former golfers and retired athletes from other sports.
