This is a remarkable journey, A Rebirth from childbirth to champion, you can`t help but admire mothers, even in sports they have inspired, women have continued to set the standard, after child birth they have carried on, winning titles as if nothing happened, going about their duties diligently.In tennis a lot of women have returned after childbirth to continue passionately with their work, providing pleasure and quality for sports lovers and adding a slice of history to the record books. The most celebrated of them all are the three major champions, starting from the legendary Court, then Googolang and Clijsters all mothers have been the world number one during their careers, winning a major after childbirth is remarkable considering the effort needed to reach the highest level and overcome the competition.
Margaret Court Cawley won three majors the Australian, French and US open titles in 1973, the most after child birth in a calendar year and a joint record haul, Court had her son and first child Daniel in march 1972 then came back and achieved the milestone , she had other children before retiring in 1977. this trend was repeated by Evonne Goolagong she had lost to Court in the Australian open finals in 1971 and 1973 and also in the US open in 1973, both had won the Australian open doubles in 1971 her first major title, she won five, the Sunshine double French and Wimbledon in 1971, the Australian open in 1974 and two more in succession after giving birth to Kelly Cawley in may 1977, she won the Australian open singles a year later and the Wimbledon title in 1980 defeating 4 of the top 10 players, the only mother to win in the All England`s club till date. it took 29 years later for Kim Clijsters, a Belgian and first european to match the Australian duo, she retired for two years within that period she gave birth to her daughter Jada Elle and returned in great style, winning the US open as a wild card in just her third tournament , an inspiration for all those trying to breakthrough or surpass an insurmountable challenge, she retained it the following year and added the Australian open, winning back to back majors tying with Court with the most major and the mother with the highest ranking, she retired again and returned in 2020 and played on for two years. in a friendly bet with her coach Wim Fissette during an exhibition, he agreed that Kim will shave his hair if she won the 2009 US open.
Kim shaving Wim
Before motherhood, while at the Australian open in 2017 which she won, The great Serena, another legend of the game defeated her sister Venus in another all Williams finals(the ninth and last of this enthralling duel) which was her seventh down under and the last of her 23rd majors while 8-9weeks pregnant. her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr was born in September, she went on to win the ASB classic in Auckland three years later. Other mothers have also achieved a title, special mention to Zvonareva, she won a doubles title in the 2018 st Petersburg tournament and the Hungarian title a year later after giving birth to Evelina in 2016, Sania Mirza also had a son Izhaan in October 2018 came back and won the 2020 Hobart International with her doubles partner Nadiia Kichenok, she had won three major double titles all with Martina Hingis(Wimbledon and US open 2015 and Australian open 2016) and three other mixed double major titles two with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi (Australian open 2009 and French open 2012)and one with the Brazilian Bruno Soares(US open 2014)for Andreea Mitu, she won doubles at the Bucharest open and in 2019 the Lugano open both in clay after child birth in 2018.
In recent times Victoria Azarenka the former world number one has returned from her maternity leave in 2018 after giving birth to Leonard in 2016 and two years later won the Cincinnati masters in 2020, several weeks later at the US open, she and two other mothers Serena and Pironkova set a record when the trio reached the quarter finals with Serena defeating Pironkova and losing to Azarenka in the semi finals. Elina Svitolina the 2023 winner of the comeback player award after taking a break to give birth to her daughter Skai in october 2022 with fellow tennis player Monfils, a year later she won the champions trophy in Strasbourg and have posted strong performances in majors notably knocking out then world number one Iga Swiatek in the quarter finals match at Wimbledon in 2023 in reaching the semi finals. These ladies have posted very inspirational results and the last of them but by no means the least is former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic who won the Abu Dhabi Tournament in three sets against American Ashlyn Krueger prevailing 4-6 6-1 6-1 after knocking out the defending champion and top seed Rybakina in the semi finals also in three sets, a former world number four player, she won after a month of returning to the sport, in her own words only we know what we went through as a family, she planned her return with caution entering the ITF world tennis tour in october, she wanted to test herself gradually, another important lesson from her was her consistent home work even while absent from the sport, she watched tennis, gaining lots of insight and improving her already outstanding tennis IQ, trying to prepare herself for the changes and challenges she will face from her ever improving opposition, for Sportumentary her march to the Australian open fourth round and loss to Coco Gauff was a very progressive performance despite her loss, it showed flashes of her ability to reach top form and her previous victories in wins against Naomi Osaka in a tiebreak before she retired injured and the elimination of Jelena Ostapenko the 2017 French Open winner was a promising one. her aggressive, all court playing style is a headache for anyone when she is in her element, the double bagel of Veronika Kudermetova in just 65 minutes to reach the quarter finals a confirmation of what she can do. her victory has moved her 92 places to a live ranking of 65, in a tournament she last won two years ago. the birth of Bella is indeed a blessing for her. Bencic is also a beneficiary of the Swiss movement, in winning the Tokyo games a gold in singles and a silver in the doubles with Golubic equaling one of the greatest tennis players ever, Roger Federer`s feat of reaching both finals and winning double medals, joining Stan Wawrinka and Marc Rosset as Olympic champions. she and Federer also won the hopman cup twice 2018-2918. Bencic is the latest mother to show her mettle at the elite level, her best promises to be better in the future if she can still make the necessary sacrifice, her new found aura and maturity,a willingness to understand and manage pressure a significant step to more progress.
