Aussie ace Daria Saville expecting first child with fellow tennis pro Luke Saville

Former World No.20 Daria Saville is set to become a mother, it has been confirmed on Friday with the Aussie ace set to start a family alongside husband and fellow tennis pro Luke Saville.

Saville took to Instagram to share the news that she was expecting her first child next March. This already will rule her out of the 2026 Australian Open and she becomes the latest tennis star to swap racquets for nappies.

"We love you so much already. Pisces like mummy," Saville wrote under a video of both herself and her husband revealing the news. "To everyone still dreaming of this moment, we're thinking of you."

Saville reached the Last 16 of the Australian Open back in 2016 and 2017 but has been unable to replicate that. She plummeted down the rankings in 2019 and 2020 with a series of serious injuries including an issue with her achilles tendon as well as plantar fascilitis.

Saville clawed back her spot in the rankings in 2022 with 500 points added but she then tore her ACL in the Autumn of that year as her horrific luck continued. She is now ranked 160th and was dumped out of the Australian Open and French Open this year at the first hurdle. She failed to qualify for both Wimbledon or the US Open.

Her husband Luke Saville on the other hand is retired already. He achieved a career high of World No.23 in 2021 and announced his retirement following this year's Australian Open.

Saville was diagnosed with a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome that can reduce a woman's fertility. She froze her eggs earlier in January in a process she documented on social media as she shared her hope to become a mother and now nine months on she is close to achieving that.

"We’re at that age, both 30 years old and married, and we kind of always said that if we weren’t professional athletes, we would probably try and have kids by now,' she told The Sydney Morning Herald back in January.

"But I’m still playing, and I still want to compete, and for that reason, we thought: "OK, well, let’s do the egg freezing"… I was able to do that while I was injured because you need a bit of time.

"It feels more like, "OK, I’ve ticked the box’, and it makes me feel more comfortable continuing my tennis career". But so far, I’ve done only one cycle.

"I might do another cycle. I know it’s not a guarantee at all, but I felt like: "OK, this is like a first step and a little bit of reassurance".

But the likelihood at least on paper of Saville returning to the sport after her pregnancy is likely high as she was told by junctures of the press to retire after her poor results at the turn of the year but it isn't something she is ready for. "I’m very honest, and I said how I felt at that time. I’ve said some things before where it made me look like I hate the game – but that’s not true. I love it. How often do people get frustrated with their jobs? Even once I actually retire, I want to be involved in tennis and give back to the sport that has given me so much."