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Ash Barty is seen with a baby bump for the first time while walking her dogs just days after announcing touching pregnancy news.
- Barty was showing off while walking his pets near his home in Brisbane.
- She delighted her fans with a pregnancy announcement last Friday
- Her dog Origi posed with a pair of baby shoes in the social media post.
Retired tennis great Ash Barty debuted her baby bump while walking her dogs just days after delighting sports fans around the world with the news that she is expecting her first child with husband Garry Kissick.
The 26-year-old Grand Slam champion was spotted walking her border collie Origi and two other of her pets near her home in Brisbane on Thursday, sporting a blooming belly after her big announcement last week.
Origi was front and center of the post that broke the news, posing next to a pair of baby shoes accompanied by Barty’s caption: ‘2023 will be the best year yet’. We are very excited about our new adventure. Origi is already the protective older sister.
Barty showed the telltale sign that she’s a mum-to-be when she took her pets for a walk near her Brisbane home on Thursday.
The Wimbledon, French and Australian Open champion took Origi for a workout after the border collie appeared in the social media post announcing the news of her pregnancy.
There was speculation that Barty made her shock decision to quit tennis last March because she had a baby on the way, but that turned out to be out of character by several months.
The baby news was greeted with joy by friends in the sports world, including runner Nedd Brockmann and tennis stars Johanna Konta and Priscilla Hon.
The Wimbledon, French Open and Australian Open champion met Kissick at Brooklands Golf Club in Queensland in 2016 during a round on the links, and they have been together ever since.
The couple announced their engagement in November 2021 and tied the knot in a secret, intimate ceremony attended only by their closest loved ones in July of last year.
Barty has previously spoken about how her home is ‘run by dogs’ while discussing why she was prompted to adopt her pets, which she calls ‘the wolf pack’, from the RSPCA.
“Origi is already the protective big sis,” Barty wrote in the social media post announcing the touching news of her baby boy to the world.
Mr. Kissick works at the golf club and Barty is also a talent in the sport.
Barty, despite being one of the best tennis players in the world, offers little insight into her world outside of the sport, from which she retired last year at the age of 26.
Known for being notoriously private about her personal life and relationship, she opened up about Kissick in an interview with Vogue.
“He’s extremely patient with me, and when we met I didn’t know much about tennis,” she said.
“He’s gotten to the deep end of understanding what the tour is like and how far apart we are… [But] he is the best person to be around in the sense of disconnecting from tennis and being able to bring fun and laughter.
The tennis great and her husband Garry Kissick (pictured together at the Newcombe Medal ceremony in Melbourne last month) tied the knot in July last year.
“I certainly wouldn’t want to share this journey with anyone else.”
Kissick had been by Barty’s side throughout his tennis career and was one of the first people he hugged after winning Wimbledon in 2021.
She has spoken about her love of dog adoption, with her and Kissick calling their pets “the wolf pack.”
“Our house is run by the dogs,” he told Sports Illustrated in 2021.
Garry got Origi, a border collie, last year. She is beautiful. Maxi and Rudy live around the corner with my mom and dad. Coming home and cuddling my dogs on the sofa is one of the things I enjoy the most for me.
‘The RSPCA Queensland shelter is not far from my home, and when I first visited it, I knew I wanted to help. Seeing someone mistreat animals is something I find very difficult to bear.