Ash Barty will return to Wimbledon to play for first time since her 2021 triumph

For the first time since she won Wimbledon in 2021, Ash Barty will be back on the grass courts in London next month.

Ash Barty is returning to Wimbledon. Picture: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Retired superstar Ash Barty will be reuniting with the grass courts at Wimbledon for the first time since her epic triumph in 2021 after agreeing to take part in an invitational doubles match.

It will be the first time the three-time grand slam champion takes to the courts since announcing her shock retirement in March 2022.

Barty, who since her retirement has got married and become a mother, will play in the exhibition match on Tuesday, July 9 (UK time). The event will include women’s doubles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Wimbledon officials made the announcement on social media, declaring they were “delighted” to have the 28-year-old back.

“Reunited with the Wimbledon grass,” Wimbledon announced.

“Delighted to have our 2021 singles champion Ash Barty returning for this year’s Invitational Doubles.”
Since her retirement, Barty’s lone competitive sporting hitout was in the New Zealand Open pro-am event, where she tested her golfing skills.

She has been reluctant to pick up a racquet competitively and has repeatedly said that despite retiring at such a young age, she had no intention of a full-time return.

Ash Barty is heading back to Wimbledon

In 2021, Barty ended Australia’s 41-year drought at Wimbledon, becoming the first player since her idol, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, to lift the singles trophy.

Barty had previously won the French Open in 2019 – the first Australian woman in 46 years to do so – before claiming the Australian Open in 2022 and announcing her retirement two months later as the reigning world No.1.

Since her retirement, Australian female presence at the grand slams has been minimal.

Even in London, the draw automatically includes the top 108-ranked female players, which means only Daria Saville and Arina Rodionova will make the cut-off.

Ajla Tomljanovic, who has won her way through to the quarter-finals at the grass court event in Birmingham, should be able to enter the tournament using a protected ranking, with a host of others set to enter qualifying.

This year’s Wimbledon winners will earn a massive $5.1m, with the runner-up to receive $2.6m.

There were no Australians among the 14 wildcards handed out overnight but the list did include several former Grand Slam champions with Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki among those given entry, as was former US Open winner and local star Emma Raducanu.

Ash Barty and her son Hayden

Both Osaka and Wozniacki have returned to the top level after having children but Barty has continued to baulk at joining them despite conceding she missed element of the game.

“I miss seeing the girls that I’ve built such a relationship with over so many years, but a lot of my best mates have also retired now and they’re kind of moving on to their next chapters,” she said.

“We’ll still get out there and hit occasionally if anyone asks or any of my mates ask. But no, I’m enjoying what I’m doing now.”

Barty’s retirement has left something of a hole in Australian women’s tennis with only Daria Saville ranked inside the top 100, at 85. But there are another five players ranked between 100 and 150.

Originally published as Ash Barty will return to Wimbledon to play for first time since her 2021 triumph