In recent years, tennis moms have become a fixture on the WTA Tour. Top-ranked players return to the tour after childbirth and maternity leave. Belinda Bencic, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist, and two-time Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova gave birth in 2024. Their future tennis plans are unknown. In the meantime, three Grand Slam champions and former World No. 1’s recently returned after motherhood. They are Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, and Caroline Wozniacki. How have they fared this season?
The Tennis Moms’ Results
Angelique Kerber, 36, returned in January. She announced that her final competitive matches would be at the Paris Olympics. She retired in less than a year after mixed results. Her return may have been prompted by playing in the Olympics. Regardless, she is already out of the game.
Naomi Osaka, 26, has had the worst luck of all the tennis mons. She has drawn tough competitors in first-round matches. Osaka has shown flashes of past brilliance. In the French Open, she was beaten by eventual champion and clay court wizard Iga Swiatek. Osaka recently admitted that she feels out of touch with her body. She is committed to the WTA for the long run and dreams of winning another Grand Slam.
Caroline Wozniacki‘s path back to the WTA Tour was different. Wozniacki, 34, retired in 2020 to start a family. After working for ESPN doing tennis color commentary, she began practicing and playing again. Wozniacki made her return last fall. She has dealt with injuries. Part of her motivation to return was the Paris Olympics. She did not get to play mixed doubles with Holger Rune because of his injury. Wozniacki also did not have success in Olympic singles.
Older Mom’s Have Also Struggled
Perhaps more time is needed for Osaka and Wozniacki to get reacclimated to the WTA Tour. Other tennis moms like Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka have been back on tour longer and also have struggled.
Svitolina, the former World No. 3, won a title within months of her return in Spring 2023. She also advanced to the latter rounds at the French Open and Wimbledon last year. Injuries have plagued her. If Svitolina, 29, can remain healthy, she could be the tennis mom with the best singles success.
Victoria Azarenka, 35, gave birth to her son in 2016. Her return was halted amid a custody battle, but she has been back on tour since 2018. Azarenka was a 2020 US Open finalist and 2023 Australian Open semifinalist. She maintains her ranking by playing consistently well in the tournaments she enters.
The Most Successful 2024 Tennis Mom
Taylor Townsend has been the most successful of tennis moms this year. Townsend, 28, gave birth to her son in 2021. In July she won the Wimbledon women’s doubles title with Katerina Siniakova. This is her first Grand Slam title after making the doubles finals at the US Open in 2022 and the French Open in 2023. Townsend still focuses on singles and is currently ranked No. 51, the highest singles ranking of her career.
The Difficulty For These Moms
Being a professional tennis player is not a 9-5 job. It requires hours of physical training in the gym and on the court. The schedule is the longest in professional sports with tournaments scheduled for 11 months each calendar year. There are surface changes and other uncontrollable changes to tennis balls that players have to navigate.
Stepping away from this briefly for childbirth complicates everything. Motherhood is also not a 9-5 job so the women constantly juggle their professional and personal priorities. That’s why success for tennis moms is an anomaly.
Kim Clijsters is one of three tennis moms to win Grand Slam titles after giving birth. She won back-to-back US Opens in 2009 and 2010 and the Australian Open in 2011. Hers is the golden standard that tennis moms are trying to achieve.
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