Tennis fans don’t need to adjust their senses, nor is this an April Fool’s joke, because Ashleigh Barty will be back on a tennis court at next month’s Wimbledon Championships.
The three-time Grand Slam singles champion will play in the 2024 Wimbledon Invitation Doubles draw alongside her good friend Casey Dellacqua.
Dellacqua, a proficient doubles operator until her retirement in 2018, won the 2011 French Open mixed doubles tournament and has been a finalist at all four Grand Slams in women’s doubles.
The 39-year-old, who currently works as a commentator, confirmed the attention-grabbing news on Thursday while talking on The AO Show Weekly. She referred to Barty as her “best mate” and said she was “excited” to reunite with her.
“I can announce the band’s back together, AB/CD. So, what an opportunity to be able to play with my best mate. This is why I love tennis. I get an opportunity to play with my best mate, who is an extremely good player and has won the Championships before.”
“For us, we are gonna have a great time and enjoy just being back together as friends on a tennis court, which we have loved to do our whole life. She’s got like 13 years on me, so she can do all the running around, and she can do all that part, and I’ll just hit a few in (laughing). But I’m actually really excited about it.”
Barty and Dellacqua won five WTA doubles titles as a team between 2013 and 2017 and were runners-up at the 2013 Wimbledon doubles tournament.
They last played as a doubles pairing at SW19 seven years ago, but their stay ended prematurely after they withdrew from the tournament after the second round.
Next month, the former WTA World No. 1, now 28 and a mother, will return to the scene of one of her grandest successes. She won the Wimbledon singles title in 2021, beating Karolina Pliskova in the final. Barty will also work as a pundit in a star-studded commentary lineup for the BBC.
