AFLW star wants Ashleigh Barty to play football instead of golf post-retirement

Although Ashleigh Barty has called it a career on the tennis court, the three-time Grand Slam champion is still sought after in other sports, as evidenced by recent interactions with an Australian rules football team.

Barty is a fan of the AFL team Richmond and she even presented them with the premiership cup back in 2020. The former World No.1 was there to watch her ‘Tigers’ team on Sunday and it was here that AFLW star Jess Hosking said she jokingly tried to sign the 26-year-old.

In an Instagram post, Hosking said “Putting pen to paper” to caption a picture of her alongside the Australian Open champion.

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However, its looking more likely that Barty will turn her attention to golf instead as she’s already won one of her local tournaments this year and won a grand total of £17 as a result, and she’s signed up to play in the ICONS series in June which features the likes of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Olympic champion Michael Phelps.

“It’s such a unique opportunity to have fun, test yourself and compete,” the French Open champion told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I hope through my participation in the series that we can encourage more women and girls to participate in golf around the world.”

On top of her new golf career, Barty also plans to release a series of children’s books after some help and input from her niece Lucy.