With the recent revelation of Serena Williams’ pregnancy, the world was taken by surprise. The player who has achieved it all won her last Grand Slam while she was pregnant. If you are asking ‘could she make a return to tennis’? You already know the answer to this!
Mother do not feel rudderless anymore, and certainly not in tennis where mothers have made a mark since 1914. If you still have doubts, we’ll put your apprehensions to rest once and for all, here are 6 woman who proved that they can comeback stronger than even after giving birth.
1) Margaret Court
The legendary Margaret Court is known to break records like crackers. Court won three of her record 24 majors after the birth of her son Daniel in 1972. She won the Australian Open, French Open and US Open in 1973 and became the first mother to achieve the WTA rank 1.
She is an epitome of consistence and perseverance. She continued playing brilliant professional tennis even after giving birth to 4 children.
2) Kim Clijsters
At the age of 24, the Belgian tennis player gave birth to her first born, Jade Elle. This did not stop her or slow her. Instead she went on to win 3 of her 4 Grand Slam crowns as a mother, silencing every critic who believed that pregnancy could possibly end her career.
After she returned from her temporary retirement in 2009, she won consecutive US Opens in years 2009 and 2010. She also won the Australian Open in year 2011. She returned to the WTA rank 19, equaling the highest debut rank ever.
3) Lindsay Davenport
The former World no. 1, Lindsay Davenport took a break from competitive tennis in late 2006 and in 2007, she gave birth to a son, Jagger Jonathan. The American tennis player was able to return to competition when he was barely three months old.
She went on to win the last 3 career tittles of her over all astounding 55 career title win. She was awarded the WTA Comeback Player of the Year in 2007. She is one of the most successful tennis players of all time.
4) Dorothea Lambert Chambers
An Olympic Gold medalist and seven times Grand slam winner, in 1914, Dorothea Lambert Chambers became the first mother to win a Grand Slam crown. In the time when patriarchy ruled the world, it was hard enough to be a woman, but to be a woman tennis player and on top of it a woman with an infant.
Dorothea Lambert Chambers most certainly did set a wonderful example for women in all sport all over the world that a woman’s career doesn’t end with her child.
5) Evone Goolagong Cawley
The Australian former World No. 1 female tennis player, Evone was one of the world’s leading players in the 1970s and 1980s, during which she won 14 Grand Slam titles. Evonne Goolagong Cawley became the first mother to win Wimbledon since Chambers when she took the title in 1980. She was not even 30 at the time.
6) Cara Blac
It is not easy for a player to come out of retirement with a body which has been dormant for a long period of time. It is certainly not easy for a new mother to return to court. It took massive amount of grit and conviction for the Zimbabwe’s No 1 tennis player who gave birth to a son in 2012. Despite, in 2013 she went back up into the world’s top 20, finishing the year ranked number 13 in the world.
Honorable mentions
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik
Sybille Bammer
