Tennis 2023: Australian tennis superstar Ash Barty expecting her first child

Australian tennis champion Ash Barty has released an Instagram post featuring a pair of tennis shoes which is sure to bring much joy to her legion of fans.

Ash Barty is to become a mum for the first time.

Ex-tennis superstar Ash Barty is expecting her first child.

Barty, who retired after winning last year’s Australian Open, broke the news on Instagram on Friday night when she posted a small pair of tennis shoes beside her pet dog Origi.

“We are so excited about our new adventure,’’ Barty wrote beside an emoji of a baby’s head. “Origi the protective big sister.’’ Barty and her husband Garry were overjoyed at the news because one of the reasons she retired from tennis was to start a family.

Barty has always been open about her affection for her nieces and nephew and would Facetime them daily when on tour.

Ash Barty has revealed that she is having a baby. Picture: Instagram

The former darling of Australian tennis is to become a mum.

Ash Barty retired from tennis last year. Picture: Michael Klein

Not only did she conduct tennis coaching lessons for her niece Lucy and her friends but Ash’s recent series of children’s books, Little Ash, was inspired by Lucy and her friends.

“Lucy was my North Star on this project,’’ Barty said. “Family is everything to me.’’

News that Barty is expecting will only confirm the suspicion that Barty, who was the No 1 women’s player for the two years before she retired, is all but certain not to return to the circuit.

While there are plenty of precedents for players who became mothers successfully returning to the circuit — her personal idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon after becoming a mother — there is a feeling that Barty, with three Grand Slams, has achieved all she wanted to in the sport and does not have the desire to return.

When she retired last year after winning the Australian Open Barty said the door to a return was “locked but not padlocked.’’

But she he since strengthened her opinion on that by saying that she feels almost certain her playing days are over but she would like to stay involved in some way.