Wimbledon 2024: Ash Barty’s top spin on retirement after return to centre talk

Alex de Minaur’s misfortune opened the way for Ash Barty to return to centre court at Wimbledon and a potential comeback was on everyone’s mind.

From my experience, the two most beautiful sights in sport are Augusta National Golf Club’s Amen Corner and Centre Court at Wimbledon. Ash Barty could have a hit at either joint without remotely looking out of place. She hits a cute fade on a golf ball nearly as deliciously as she slices and dices a backhand that still makes ‘em swoon at the All England Club.

And here she is now, walking out on the hallowed turf because Alex de Minaur has forfeited to Novak Djokovic and her Ladies Invitational Doubles with Casey Dellacqua has been ushered into his slot. They should have let Barty play Djokovic. She’d drive him bonkers. She’s aglow with rude health and complete happiness and everyone needs to hush about a comeback. It’s not happening.

When she won Wimbledon a couple of years ago – so recently! – Barty accomplished everything she ever wanted in tennis. That was her one perfect moment. Her one dreamy, idyllic, picturesque, surreal, wonderful moment that made her think she was done. Her mountain had been climbed. Why climb it again? She hung up her racquets in a sport where people can be needy. They need to keep playing, they need to keep winning, winning, they need to keep proving themselves. Barty was wiser than that. She didn’t need it at all. As Danielle Collins said, “Bad-ass.”

Ash Barty with Casey Dellacqua during the Ladies' Invitation Doubles match against Andrea Petkovic of Germany and Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia on Wimbledon’s centre court. Picture: Getty Images

After the hit and giggle, Barty greeted the media throng with a beaming, “Hello, everyone. Obviously this is the place that holds some of my most cherished memories. Really nice to be back with my best mate on the court. It’s pretty special. It was amazing. Very surprising. A lovely surprise to be able to go out on Centre Court. I thought I’d played my last match out there. It was beautiful out there this evening. I think everyone enjoyed it. We had a good time. It’s good fun. There are so many ladies that I played with, played with years ago, played with more recently. Some obviously a lot more recently retired than others. It’s just nice to be back out doing what I love.”

Comeback! She can win more majors “You guys are killing me,” she said. “I don’t know how much more. Anyone have a thesaurus for a word that I can use for no?”

What a treat for Barty. An altered schedule after de Minaur’s sad forfeit and she gets to have another hit on the best court in the world. “It changed so much my life,” she said of her Wimbledon triumph. “It was my dream. It was my childhood dream to win this tournament, to win The Championships. I was able to do that. I was fortunate enough to be in a position to play on such a beautiful court on a Saturday afternoon that every athlete wants to play. It was really nice to go out there today and reminisce a little bit. It’s nice to come in and settle in like everyone else. It was really enjoyable to go out there. It feels very different when you’re under the microscope in a singles final to when you’re out there with your best mate. Both enjoyable, but both very different.

Ash Barty with her trademark slice backhand Picture: Getty Images

Barty said of de Minaur: “I’m broken for Alex. I mean, you could see how much it means to him. Like he said, this was the biggest match of his life. This was the opportunity that he had worked so hard for. To have something awful like that happen … he is a resilient athlete. He’s a ripping guy. I know that this will be a challenge but there will be a silver lining somewhere along the way that he’ll grow from, absolutely. He’s too intelligent and too driven and passionate and motivated to not learn from it and not grow from it.”

Barty added: “It hurts, though. Absolutely you can’t hide behind the fact that it’s awful. You have to be able to accept it. It’s okay to let it kind of be flattening for a while. But he will, I’m sure, be able to come back. When he’s back on the court and fit and healthy, he’ll be doing what he does best again.

De Minaur will be racing the clock to recover from his hip complaint in time for the Paris Olympics. “It’s incredible. His journey the last couple years has been astronomical,” Barty said. “The way he’s been able to develop his game, have a more complete game. He’s not the biggest bloke out there, but his being able to match it with these guys is impressive. I think you have seen a massive shift in his ability to be more aggressive and get inside the court. Try to dominate more matches instead of just running, which is a massive strength of his. He’s been able to add layers to his game, which has been very impressive. He belongs in the top 10. He belongs in the quarterfinals, semi-finals, latter stages of Grand Slams. This won’t be the first time he’s in a quarters here. He’ll get another opportunity. I haven’t run into him. I haven’t reached out yet. Not my place for the moment. He needs to absorb what’s happened with his team and his people. But I’m sure I’ll see him at some stage.”