Ash Barty to return to Wimbledon as retired tennis superstar lands job she 'never' wanted

Ash Barty will return to Wimbledon this summer, but she won't be stepping back onto court as many fans would have hoped. 

Back in 2022, Barty shocked the world by announcing her retirement from tennis at the age of 25, shortly after winning her home grand slam the Australian Open.

Barty had held the world No 1 ranking for 116 weeks at the time of her bombshell announcement, leaving the tennis world in shock. 

Since walking away from the sport, Barty welcomed back Hayden in July 2023 with her husband, Garry Kissick, and has also written books and played in golf tournaments the world over.

And now it has been revealed that Barty will be part of the BBC's commentary team for the prestigious slam in SW19, despite initially claiming she had no interest in being a tennis pundit.  

'A host of Wimbledon champions will be joining the studio,' said the BBC's content boss, Charlotte Moore. 

'This will include John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King and Pat Cash, alongside Tim Henman, Tracey Austin, Annabel Croft and Johanna Konta.

'Joining the line-up this year will be 2021 champion Ashleigh Barty and, if he's not playing, 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios, so anything could happen there.'

In November 2022, Barty was asked whether she would ever go in the commentary box.  

'No, never,' she replied.

Despite being in and around tennis this summer, Barty remains uninterested in returning to the professional circuit.

'I don't have the time – I don't have the time to train, I don't have the time to prepare, and I have so many great memories out on this court and now I just get to create new memories,' she said late last year.

'I'm certainly not coming out of retirement.'