Ashleigh Barty to play Wimbledon invitation doubles

Field Level Media|published: Thu 20th June, 11:57 2024

Sep 4, 2021; Flushing, NY, USA; Ashleigh Barty of Australia hits to Shelby Rogers of the USA on day six of the 2021 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Former World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty will participate in an exhibition doubles event at Wimbledon, tournament officials announced.

Barty, who announced her retirement in March 2022 -- two months after she won the Australian Open, will join fellow Australian Casey Dellacqua in competing in invitation doubles.

"I can announce the band's back together, ABCD," Dellacqua told The AO Show Weekly on Thursday.

Barty, 28, gave birth to her first child, son Hayden, last July.

She will compete with Dellacqua by her side on July 9. Dellacqua, 39, retired from active competition in 2018 and currently works as a commentator.

Barty also will be working as a commentator at the All-England Club.

A 2019 French Open and 2021 Wimbledon champion, Barty held the WTA's No. 1 rating for 114 consecutive weeks -- the fourth-longest streak in history. Only Steffi Graf (186 weeks), Serena Williams (186) and Martina Navratilova (156) had longer runs.

--Field Level Media