Ash Barty has announced the birth of her first child, baby boy Hayden.
The Australian tennis great and her husband, golf professional Garry Kissick, reported that they were the proud parents of a "beautiful boy" in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
"Welcome to the world, Hayden!," it read, accompanied by a picture of the new arrival wrapped in a blanket.
The news was acclaimed during the morning at Wimbledon where Barty, a three-time grand slam champion, was feted just two years ago for achieving her tennis dream of winning the singles title.
The following year, the Ngarigo woman caused a sensation by announcing her retirement from the sport in March less than two months after she had won the Australian Open in Melbourne, breaking a 44-year drought for Australian women players, and was still a completely dominant figure at the top of the game.
Barty then got married to Kissick in July last year in Queensland, and in January announced her pregnancy, declaring: "2023 set to be the best year yet."
Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia, led the wave of congratulations from within the sport for the popular Barty, calling it "wonderful news".
Inevitably, since her retirement as the world No.1 at the peak of her powers, there has been speculation over whether Barty, now 27, might decide to make a comeback at some point.
Ons Jabeur, last year's Wimbledon finalist, said only this week that she believed Barty could have won 20 grand slams if she had carried on.
But, doubtless, the guessing games will still continue over whether the woman who lifted three of the slams - French Open (2020), Wimbledon (2021) and Australian Open (2022) - may one day join the band of successful tennis mums.
Down the years, that esteemed list has included Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Barty's own heroine, Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, who became the first mother to win the Wimbledon singles for 66 years back in 1980.
When asked about the prospect of one day returning to the sport, Barty said after her retirement: "I'd say you never say never. I'd say the door is closed, but it's not padlocked.
"I'm never one to absolutely say never, never, never. But, yeah, it feels like it's closed."
