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Serena, Clijsters, Goolagong: A history of tennis’ successful mothers

In this record-breaking year, three mothers made the US Open quarter-final in singles – with one more in doubles. We look back at some other stars who made a comeback after motherhood.

Another former world No 1, Clijsters matched Court in winning three Grand Slam singles title after becoming a mother. After giving birth to Jada Elly Lynch in 2008, Clijsters announced her comeback and clinched the 2009 US Open as a wildcard, defeating Venus and Serena Williams on the way and won her second major against Caroline Wozniacki. She would add a US Open title in 2010 and win the Australian Open in 2011 before her second retirement in 2012. She returned to professional tennis in 2020. (Kim Clijsters at 2009 US Open, Panoramic)

Ryan Lam

September 10, 2020

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Margaret Court

Court was the first player to win a Grand Slam in singles after becoming a mother. She was a 21-time Grand Slam champion before giving birth to her first child, Daniel Court, in 1972. After that, she came back and captured three Slams in the subsequent year in the Australian Open, French Open and US Open to take her total to 24. She then took another maternity break for Marika, her second child, in 1974 and continued to play until her retirement in 1977. (Margaret Court at Australian Open 2020, Panoramic)
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Kim Clijsters

Another former world No 1, Clijsters matched Court in winning three Grand Slam singles title after becoming a mother. After giving birth to Jada Elly Lynch in 2008, Clijsters announced her comeback and clinched the 2009 US Open as a wildcard, defeating Venus and Serena Williams on the way and won her second major against Caroline Wozniacki. She would add a US Open title in 2010 and win the Australian Open in 2011 before her second retirement in 2012. She returned to professional tennis in 2020. (Kim Clijsters at 2009 US Open, Panoramic)
3/9

Evonne Goolagong Cawley

Goolagong had six Grand Slam titles in singles, as well as a world No 1 before giving birth to daughter Kelly Cawley in 1977. She had to wait until 1980 for her final major title, being the only Wimbledon champion to defeat four top-10 players along the way. She had a second pregnancy break in 1981 for her son Morgan Kiema Cawley, and continued to play until 1983. (Goolagong Cawley [middle] at Brisbane Open in 2014, Panoramic)
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Serena Williams

Williams is the greatest player of her generation in tennis, with 23 Grand Slams under her belt and one of them was extra special. In 2017, she prevailed in the Australian Open while she was pregnant with her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. Her return to tennis was delayed as she suffered from two pulmonary embolisms during labour. Despite still being a top player upon her return, she was only able to add one title by defeating Jessie Pegula in the 2020 Auckland Open and fell short in four straight major finals. (Williams with Olympia, Instagram, July 2, 2020)
5/9

Victoria Azarenka

Azarenka was a former world No 1 and two-time Australian Open winner before giving birth to her son, Leo, in 2016. She promptly returned to play in 2017, but only claimed her first title upon return in 2020 in the Western & Southern Open after Naomi Osaka withdrew with injury concerns. She was part of the trio who marked the first time three mothers made a Grand Slam quarter-final in the 2020 US Open, along with Serena Williams and Tsvetana Pironkova. (Azarenka with Leo, Instagram, August 29, 2020)
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Tsvetana Pironkova

Pironkova made history with Azarenka and Serena Williams when she tied her career-best Grand Slam record by advancing to the quarter-finals of the 2020 US Open. The former world No 31 took a three-year hiatus after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, giving birth to her son Alexander in April 2018, and returned for the 2020 US Open, where she was defeated by Serena Williams. (Pironkova with Alexander, Instagram, October 26, 2019)
7/9

Sania Mirza

Mirza carved out her career in the doubles side of things, winning three Grand Slam titles apiece in both women’s and mixed doubles and was ranked No 1 in women’s doubles back in 2015. She gave birth to her son, Izhaan, in October, 2018 and returned to play at the Hobart International in 2020. (Mirza with Izhaan, Instagram, August 26, 2019)
8/9

Vera Zvonareva

The former world No 2 announced the news of her marriage and subsequent birth of her child in August of 2016, and she made her comeback in 2017. She was successful in her return in doubles in 2018, prevailing in the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and the Moscow River Cup. She followed up with another title in the Hungarian Ladies Open in 2019. (Zvonareva with Timea Bacsinzky and her child after winning the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, February 5, 2019)
9/9

Andreea Mitu

Mitu reached a career-high ranking of 68th in 2015 in the WTA with 19 ITF titles in singles. She made the fourth round of Roland Garros in 2015 and that marked her best Grand Slam performance. She took a break from tennis in 2017 and welcomed her son, Adam, in January 2018. She won nine more ITF titles and three more WTA titles after her pregnancy. (Mitu with Adam, July 5, 2019)