SYDNEY (Australia): World number one Ashleigh Barty will make her first top-level appearance in nearly a year when she joins a star-studded exhibition in Adelaide this month.
The Australian, who has remained top of the rankings despite not playing since last February, joins a field which also includes major-winners Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep.
Men’s Grand Slam champions Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem, along with Jannik Sinner, the highly rated world number 36 from Italy, will also play the event on January 29.
“I am looking forward to playing my first match for the 2021 season in Adelaide,” Barty said in a Tennis Australia statement.
It will be Barty’s first match since her semi-final loss to Petra Kvitova at the Qatar Open last February.
In September the multi-talented Aussie, who famously played professional cricket during a hiatus from tennis, won a suburban golf tournament near Brisbane.
