Johanna Konta reveals she has given birth to a baby girl called Emmeline with husband Jackson Wade

Tennis star Johanna Konta has announced the birth of her first child.

The former UK number one, who retired from the sport in December 2021, shared a photo of herself cradling her newborn in an Instagram update on Tuesday.

The sportswoman, 31, announced on Monday that her daughter was born and called Emmeline.

She captioned the sweet photo: “Baby Emmeline 22/09/22,” followed by a heart and a waving emoji.

Johanna married her film producer and photographer husband Jackson Wade in December.

Johanna revealed her pregnancy in May, with an Instagram photo showing off her blooming belly.

The sweet photo showed the athlete dressed in sportswear in the doorway of the house she shares with Jackson, tenderly rocking her belly.

Beaming for the camera, Johanna wrote the photo: ‘I am now baking my own little muffin.’

In January, while working as a co-commentator for Eurosport at the Australian Open, Johanna called selected tennis journalists to ask if her recent retirement was linked to a possible pregnancy.

Johanna announced her retirement in December at the age of 30 after three Grand Slam semi-finals and the top-ranked British player for six years.

Speak with The TelegraphJohanna said she hated being asked if her decision to retire was related to her plans for a family.

“As a woman, you start reaching a certain age, reaching certain milestones, and then it’s immediately assumed, ‘Okay, when is the baby coming?'” she said.

“I don’t think any harm has been done, but it would be nice to talk about my career and things like that, like my male colleagues in sport,” she added.

“I’m not sure if they’ll ask Rafa Nadal when he’ll finally marry his girlfriend before he did, or when he’s going to have kids.”

The Sydney-born star said: “First, it’s a very personal decision and, you know, I think it can be a little insensitive, especially for people who may not want to [have children] or have other difficulties’.

Johanna and Jackson married in December in a ceremony in London, seven months after announcing their engagement. She revealed that she got married two weeks after announcing her retirement from tennis.

Johanna wrote in her caption: ‘Being a lady for two weeks.’

The Ellesse spokesperson revealed she would be marrying her long-term boyfriend — and showed off the huge starlet that sealed the deal — in May, posting on Instagram: “A few weeks ago, I woke up 30 and engaged.”

Johanna has been dating Jackson, who runs his own media company, for several years and the couple share a house in London.

Johanna revealed that, on her 30th birthday on May 17, the proposal had been a “semi-surprise.” A second photo posted offered fans a peek inside the vintage-looking diamond ring.

Eagle-eyed fans had already spotted the star when she arrived to play at the French Open in May, where she was knocked out in the first round.

In a statement on Twitter titled ‘Grateful’, the 2017 Wimbledon semi-finalist announced her retirement and considered herself ‘incredibly happy’ despite a frustrating 2021 overshadowed by problems caused by Covid.

Johanna revealed in August that she wasn’t sure if she should take the Covid-19 vaccine, having declined the shot before testing positive during a period of self-isolation – adding that Covid had affected her physically and mentally.

She missed Wimbledon and the Olympics due to problems with Covid support bubbles and contracted the virus herself.

“It was a combination of feeling pretty sick, so I only slept or existed for a few days,” she said.

‘There was also a period there when I had to completely process my own feelings of injustice, such as: ‘Why now?’ kind of feeling. I needed some space and a bit of licking my wounds.’

When asked if she regretted not taking the vaccine, she replied, “I don’t know, I’m not so sure.”

Australian-born Johanna, who moved from Australia to Britain in 2012, also recently shared how she has had ‘palpitations’ and feels ‘lightheaded’ during matches.

‘I sometimes have palpitations. Basically, my heart rate speeds up for no reason. I feel a little dizzy.

“The first time this happened was in Birmingham in 2017; the second time was in Beijing in 2018. The third time was three months ago when I did my clay block training block at my home in London.

“So I wouldn’t say there’s a huge common denominator. There have been stressful situations and stress-free situations.’

Announcing the news of her retirement in December, Johanna wrote an emotional statement on social media: “Thank you. This is probably the word I’ve used the most throughout my career, and it’s the word that ultimately explains it best.

“My playing career has come to an end and I am so incredibly grateful for the career it has become.

“All the evidence pointed to me not ‘making it’ in this profession. But my happiness materialized in the people who came into my life and influenced my existence in ways that transcended tennis.

‘I am so very grateful to these people. You know who you are.

‘Thanks to my own resilience and the guidance of others, I have been able to make my dreams come true. I had to become what I wanted and said as a child.

‘How I count myself to be incredibly lucky. How grateful I am.’

Johanna reached the last four at Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the French Open and also reached the quarters at the US Open.

Her biggest title came at the Miami Open in 2017, while also reaching the quarter-finals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio – finishing her career with four career titles, the latest at the Nottingham Open in June.

She last played at the Western & Southern Open in August, where she lost in the first round – her ranking has since fallen to 113.