Former professional tennis star and Australian Open contender Ashley Harkleroad quit the sport in 2012 and now has a huge following on social media

Former professional tennis player Ashley Harkleroad isn’t just gorgeous – she also has a wicked sense of humour, too.

Ashley, who is now 38, will be a familiar name to tennis fans of a certain vintage. The American was a regular in Grand Slam events in the mid-2000s, when she made the third round of the both the French Open and the Australian Open.

She also competed at Wimbledon six times, including in 2006 when she lost in the second round to 2004 champion Maria Sharapova. From a career-high ranking in 2003, she quit the sport in 2012 to embark on other projects.

The blonde beauty has always had a penchant for modelling – she caused quite the stir in 2008 when she posed for Playboy – which has continued to the present day. Her Instagram, which has 138,000 followers, is filled with snaps of Ashley having fun out and about and posing in various of items of clothing – sometimes, at least.

Because in at least a couple of posts from the last few years, she opted to forgo any clothing altogether. In one snap from 2022, the former tennis pro posed without a bra as she covered up with only a Louis Vuitton jacket.

While an older upload from 2020, taken during the depths of lockdown, saw Ashley go completely naked altogether. The gorgeous star stripped down to…well…nothing and posed with her back to the camera.

One cheeky follower wrote: “Lucky dog!” While another said: “Wow…breathtakingly beautiful.” As a third commented: “Thank you, clothing is over rated.”

Ashley, who also had a brief spell on adult subscription site OnlyFans, even amused fans with her very cheeky caption. It read: “Been saving money on clothes…” That’s one way to do it…