When Kim Clijsters spectacularly won the 2009 US Open, just three tournaments into her comeback after a two-year maternity break, she became the first mother to win a major title in 29 years.
And in the decade-and-a-half since, no player has replicated Clijsters’ feat of holding aloft a Grand Slam singles trophy after having a child.
With more high-profile mothers competing on tour than ever, in an era where a groundbreaking maternity fund has recently become available to players, Clijsters would love to see that change.
"I'm so ready for a new mum to hold a Grand Slam trophy,” the former world No.1 said on this week’s episode of The Sit-Down podcast.
“I'm proud seeing so many women [with kids] in the draw and seeing the kids walk around and their family members in the players' restaurant. That's what it's all about.”
LISTEN: Kim Clijsters on The Sit-Down
So many things about Clijsters’ 2009 comeback were groundbreaking. At the time it was rare to see mothers competing on tour at the highest level, and with her victory in New York, she became the first Grand Slam singles champion with a child since Australian icon Evonne Goolagong Cawley won at Wimbledon in 1980.
When Clijsters then won two more majors – the last coming at Australian Open 2011 – she equalled another Aussie great, Margaret Court, as the mother with the most Grand Slam singles titles (three).
Aside from a brief five-match comeback across 2020-2021, she did not play again after 2012.
In the time since, several big names have returned to the sport as mothers, most notably Serena Williams, who reached four Grand Slam finals after giving birth to her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017. Victoria Azarenka reached the 2020 US Open final, four years after having her son Leo.
Elina Svitolina, Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Taylor Townsend, Belinda Bencic and Petra Kvitova have also staged comebacks after maternity breaks.
Clijsters’ example, and success as a mother, may have indirectly inspired what we’re seeing on the WTA tour today.
The Belgian sees no reason why one of them can’t prevail at a Grand Slam tournament, just as she did.
"Serena was definitely the one who has come the closest,” Clijsters said.
“There's so many great players out there that are mothers and that have won Grand Slams [before having children], like Osaka, Kvitova, Vika. These are all players who know how to do it.
"I remember when I came back in Cincinnati in 2009, there was a player who came up to me and said: ‘I wish I did what you did, and that I had the guts to do it, because now, [I’m] mid-30s, and I don't have a partner, I've kinda been playing a [whole] career'.
“It really made things sink in for me and realise, 'oh wow, this is an issue for a lot of women'. There's so many women where your clock starts ticking and you feel like you want to start a family, but at the same time you also feel like, 'oh I've been playing tennis for 20 years, or even longer, working to be at this level and to play the Grand Slams’. It's a tough situation to leave to start a family.
"There's not a lot of women, when I'm picking up or dropping off my kids at school, who understand what we have gone through as tennis players. From a young age, being so dedicated, to understand what that life is like, to be leaving home when you're 11-12 years old and travelling to all these different parts of the world, without your parents. It just takes so much discipline and focus.
“[That’s why the WTA-PIF Maternity Fund announcement] has taken our sport, I feel like, to another level for independent women athletes... you [can] lose your sponsors, if you don't play tournaments you don't get paid. And there's a lot of players who don't make enough money or haven't saved enough money, to say, 'oh I would like to start a family because this is what my body and my mind wants to do', and then come back.
“I really feel very excited to see a new player that will use this program.”
In the meantime, Clijsters continues to follow the sport closely.
And while she hopes the best for the growing number of mothers on the circuit, she has a particular interest in another group of players – those at the very top.
“Playing against somebody like [world No.1 Aryna] Sabalenka, like, how hard does she hit the ball? I want to be on the other side of the net as her and feel that. What is that like?” Clijsters said.
“Or how fast does Coco [Gauff] move, and how well does she defend? Or those kind of things.
“It looks super impressive... I can translate it verbally, the best, if I can see what it feels like on the court."
Listen to the full episode of The Sit-Down, a weekly podcast released each Monday featuring an in-depth interview with a notable tennis identity. Subscribe to The Sit-Down in your favourite podcast player.