bwin and other leading betting brands aren’t yet ruling out a return to the sport for Australian Tennis Start Ashleigh Barty following the 25-year old’s shock retirement last month as they offer strong odds for her gracing the courts once more.
Barty retired from professional tennis on Tuesday (March 23), saying she was physically ‘absolutely spent’.
And with odds on for her return, the Queenslander, who has been world number one for 121 weeks, is far from the first sports star to retire and then make a comeback.
Just last month, Tom Brady – revered as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time – announced his return to the gridiron after a ‘retirement’ that lasted 40 days.
The 44-year old, who has won six Superbowls and holds almost every major quarterback record, retired on February 1 but will return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this coming season for his 23rd NFL year after tweeting ‘I’ve realized my place is on the field and not in the stands’.
There are a host of other sporting legends who found the lure of the game too much to resist after retiring. Among them are boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, who retired no fewer then five times, tennis ace Martina Hingis who quit three times and basketball legend Michael Jordan, who left the court twice before finally calling it a day in 2003. In fact, the recently ousted Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, was a ‘un-retiree’ having come out of his 1987 retirement at the behest of then President, General Zia Ul Haq, to lead Pakistan to the Cricket World Cup just 5 years later. Just how many more superstars will be lured back by the fame, money or just love of the game?
For more on the top 10 multiple sports retirements, visit: Sporting comebacks: 10 famous multiple retirees (bwin.com)
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