Ons Jabeur hopes Ashleigh Barty "will change her mind like Wozniacki" about retirement

WATCH: Ons Jabeur talks about her desire for Ash Barty to come out of retirement and her sadness at WTA Tour buddy Anett Kontaveit having to hang up her racquet prematurely at Wimbledon

Last year’s Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur is among the many tennis players and fans thrilled to hear Ashleigh Barty’s baby news—but says she’s still holding out hope that the call of the tennis courts will eventually bring the former world No. 1 back out of retirement.

Jabeur, the No. 6 seed, eased into the second round after completing a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Madgalena Frech on Tuesday, the same day that Barty revealed the news on social media. The Aussie, who retired 15 months ago, recently welcomed baby boy Hayden with husband Garry Kissick.

“I'm very happy for her that she had a baby boy,” Jabeur said during a post-match press conference. “I'm very happy for her because this is something that I want to have, a family.”

Jabeur has indeed been open over the years about her dream of becoming a mother after her tennis career is over. The Netflix tennis docuseries Break Point captured an emotional conversation between Jabeur and husband Karim Kamoun, who is also her physio, where they discussed their tough decision to delay parenthood during her playing days.

That’s why Jabeur said she completely emphasized with Barty’s decision to walk away from the game at 25 years old, still ranked world No. 1, but still hopes the Aussie will eventually “change her mind” and return to the tennis courts.

“I'm sure she's enjoying being a mom right now than being on a tennis court waiting to play at Wimbledon,” she added, referencing the two straight rainy days that have disrupted the schedule.

“I hope that she will change her mind like [Caroline] Wozniacki and comes back maybe in one or two years.”

If she does, it would actually be Barty’s second time retiring and then returning to the sport. At 18 years old, struggling with burnout and depression, the Aussie took an extended break and traded her racquet for cricket bat during a few pro seasons. When she returned in 2016, she enjoyed prolific success rising to the top of the WTA rankings and winning three Grand Slam trophies before retiring again in 2022.

Jabeur is hoping Barty can take some comeback inspiration from 2018 Australian Open champion Wozniacki, who recently announced her own intention of returning to the WTA Tour after the birth of her second child with husband David Lee. The 32-year-old from Denmark hung up her racquets at the start of 2020, but has now set this year’s Canadian Open in Montreal and US Open as her first targets.

Retiring for a while and then returning to the sport is probably what Jabeur hopes fellow player Anett Kontaveit will do as well. Two weeks ago, the Estonian announced that due to chronic low back pain and degeneration she would stop competing professionally after Wimbledon—although due to the rain at SW19 she has not been able to contest her farewell match against Lucrezia Stefanini.

“I believe the weather is sad that she's leaving, so they don't want her to play!” Jabeur joked, adding that she was “very, very sad” to hear the news. “I honestly tried to convince her not to, but it didn't work out.

“But it's her decision. It's also nice to see that someone knows what they're doing, and she knows exactly that she wants to retire and move on. Especially her back did not help much.

“Very sad that I'm going to miss her on tour. I'm definitely going to go see her and hopefully go see her in Estonia. It's a country that I never visited before.”

Into the second round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row, Jabeur awaits the winner of the rain-delayed match between Ysaline Bonaventure and qualifier Bai Zhouxuan.