Mother’s Day on tour: Players reshaping the comeback conversation
With the clay season in full swing and Mother’s Day just around the corner, a growing number of WTA players are changing the way we think about comebacks. From Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong to Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams, tennis has a rich history of moms returning to the top. But in 2025, the story feels different -- less about exceptions, more about momentum.
Belinda Bencic is back in the winner’s circle less than a year after giving birth. Naomi Osaka just picked up her first career title on clay. Elina Svitolina has another trophy to her name, and Taylor Townsend is now ranked No. 2 in doubles.
These aren’t one-off stories. Backed by new support systems, including the newly launched PIF WTA Maternity Fund, players are showing that motherhood doesn’t end a career. It can reshape it.
WTA and PIF create the PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program
Back in the winner’s club
Belinda Bencic: Right back in the mix
Less than a year after giving birth to her daughter Bella, Bencic is already back in the winner’s circle. She captured the Abu Dhabi trophy in February and, the next month, she reached the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, which included a commanding win against fellow mom Tatjana Maria. Bencic took a gradual return path, starting with smaller events late last season, but her early results have exceeded even her own expectations. “I definitely didn’t anticipate the comeback being so successful and so early,” she said in Indian Wells. “But of course I’m going to take it.” Now ranked No. 39, she’s putting herself back in contention -- and quickly.
Belinda Bencic’s full-circle journey leads to another Abu Dhabi title
Naomi Osaka: Title on clay, baby in tow
Osaka’s return has been steady -- and just recently in Saint-Malo, spectacular. The four-time major winner earned her first title as a mother (and first of her career on clay) at the WTA 125 there, beating Kaja Juvan in straight sets. The former World No. 1 gave birth to daughter Shai in July 2023 and rejoined the tour in 2024. Osaka, who also reached the final of Auckland in January, is looking more and more like the top player she was before stepping away from the game.
Naomi Osaka wins first title since 2021 with Saint-Malo 125 victory
Elina Svitolina: All business in Rouen
Svitolina picked up her first title of the season -- and first since 2023 -- in Rouen, where she won all five of her matches in straight sets. The former World No. 3 defeated Olga Danilovic 6–4, 7–6(8) in the final and saved two set points in the second-set tiebreak. Since returning from maternity leave in 2023, Svitolina has been quick to reestablish herself as a threat, especially on clay. She now holds an 18–4 record in WTA singles finals, one of the most efficient conversion rates among active players.
How Elina Svitolina won Rouen 2025
Taylor Townsend: Winning at the top
Townsend has collected two of the biggest doubles titles of her career this season -- the Australian Open and Dubai -- both alongside Katerina Siniakova. In Melbourne, they outlasted Jelena Ostapenko and Hsieh Su-Wei in a three-set final to win their second Grand Slam together. A month later in Dubai, they beat the same team again in straight sets to take home the WTA 1000 title. The results pushed Townsend to a career-high doubles ranking of No. 2, the kind of progress she credits to steady, intentional work. “My coach says, ‘Pound the stone, because you keep hitting it eventually, something’s going to crack,’” she said to Town and Country magazine before Indian Wells. “You don’t know when, you don’t know where, you don’t know how big, but something’s going to happen.”
Australian Open: Townsend notches first Slam singles win as a mom
Pioneers and advocates
Victoria Azarenka: From blueprint to reality
A pioneer of the mom comeback, Azarenka is now a driving force behind the WTA’s first-of-its-kind maternity program. As chair of the Players’ Council, she helped push the PIF WTA Maternity Fund from idea to implementation. Azarenka returned to competition in 2017 and three years later reached a Grand Slam final. She has made multiple second-week Slam runs and continues to lead on and off court. “I wasn’t going to leave tennis until this was in place,” she said.
Azarenka’s fight for maternity rights pays off in historic WTA move
Tatjana Maria: Tour mom, on and off the court
Maria remains a presence on the WTA Tour, balancing her professional career with motherhood. In 2025, she strung together a 13–13 win-loss record across all levels, including a quarterfinal appearance at the 2025 Copa Colsanitas in Bogota. Beyond her match results, Maria serves as an informal mentor to fellow mothers on tour, offering guidance on managing the dual responsibilities of professional tennis and parenting.
Maria, mother of two, brings family business to Wimbledon run
Finding that winning edge
Petra Kvitova: First steps, again
At first, Kvitova wasn’t sure she’d return to the tour, but after giving birth to her son, Petr, in July 2024, she made her comeback at the ATX Open in Austin. But it wasn’t until this past week in Rome she picked up her first win of the season. “Every shot I hit smoothly, I was like, ‘Wow -- it’s still there,’” she said. The rest, travel, fitness, life on the road with a baby, remains a work in progress. But she’s not rushing it, and she’s not setting a timeline. “I’m glad to finally have the first win,” she said.
'I was 95% that I would never come back': Kvitova posts first win of return
Anastasija Sevastova: No rush, no shortcuts
Her trademark drop shot hasn’t lost its bite. After giving birth to daughter Alexandra in December 2022, Sevastova earned her first tour-level win in more than two years at the 2024 Transylvania Open, defeating Andreea Mitu in straight sets. But weeks later, her comeback was derailed by a serious knee injury in Austin that damaged her ACL, meniscus and cartilage. She spent six weeks on crutches -- just as her daughter was learning to walk. Now 35, Sevastova is back, competing on a protected ranking and recently made the third round in Madrid with wins over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Jelena Ostapenko. “I just want to prove it to myself,” she said. “I want to show my daughter you can achieve things when you’re persistent.”
Sevastova wasn’t sure she’d walk unaided again. She was wrong
The future moms’ club
Schmiedlova: A new chapter begins
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova is the latest to join the growing group of WTA players balancing careers with motherhood. The three-time tour titlist and former World No. 26 recently announced she’s expecting her first child. Schmiedlova, who hasn’t competed since February, reached the Olympic semifinals in Tokyo and has long been a fixture in Slovakia’s Billie Jean King Cup lineup.
“It’s a personal matter for me, but I wanted to share this to avoid any confusion in the coming months,” she wrote on Instagram. “My partner and I are very happy and excited.”
Olympic semifinalist Schmiedlova announces pregnancy
Wozniacki: Already a mom twice, and now making it three
Yes, she’s already a mom of two, but Caroline Wozniacki is adding one more to the team. The former World No.1, who returned to tennis last summer after a three-year hiatus, announced in April that she’s expecting her third child. Wozniacki has balanced motherhood with a second act on tour, reaching the fourth round of the US Open and cracking the Top 100 again. Now 34, she’s stepping away once more, but her message hasn’t changed: “I want to show my kids that you can pursue your dreams no matter your age or role.”
