On-tour parenthood a mix of joy, juggling
“It’s better to travel with her because she’s making me laugh even if I have lost and I’m in a bad mood. She comes and says, ‘I love you.’ ” Kateryna Bondarenko, on her daughter, Karin
For any parent, the joy of having children comes with a heavy dose of responsibility.
If the parent in question is a globe-trotting professional tennis player, the job comes with the added demands of being a family constantly on the go.
Not surprisingly, there are many more fathers than playing mothers on the tour. But three moms have captured Grand Slam tournament titles after having children: Margaret Court won the last three of her record 24 Grand Slam singles titles after her son was born; Evonne Goolagong won the last of her seven majors as a mom and, more recently, Kim Clijsters won three of her four Grand Slam trophies with daughter, Jade, in tow.
There seems to be a real chance that a mother could win another Grand Slam title.
Serena Williams, holder of an Open-era record 23 Grand Slam singles titles, is six months pregnant. Victoria Azarenka, a twotime Australian Open champion, will join the traveling mom club this month with 6-month-old Leo.
Some might think it’s a good time for Williams, 35, to plan a graceful exit from the tour. But from the moment she announced she was pregnant in April, she said she’d be back. In fact, when Williams contacted her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, to tell him the exciting news, she didn’t suggest he search for a new player to counsel.
“That was the whole discussion when she called me,” Mouratoglou said. “Her first sentence was, ‘I am pregnant.’ But in the same sentence it was, ‘But I want to be back. There is no chance my career ends like this.’
“Then the next questions was, ‘Are you OK to wait for me? Will you wait for me, because as soon as I have the baby, I want to go back on tour and want to keep winning.’ I said to her, ‘Yes, I will wait for you,’ and I am happy to.”
Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko initially thought motherhood signaled the end of her tennis career. But a few months after her daughter, Karin, was born, Bondarenko missed playing and mounted a comeback.
Rejoining the tour came with complications, but the 30-yearold never regretted the decision.
“It was hard at the beginning,” Bondarenko said. “I was still breast-feeding, and in the mid- dle of the night when she was sleeping, and then asking for breast, it was a little bit difficult. But still it was great having a kid.
“It’s better to travel with her because she’s making me laugh even if I have lost and I’m in a bad mood. She comes and says, ‘I love you.’ It’s great to have her and not to think about only tennis.”
Germany’s Tatjana Maria says having a 3-year-old who constantly wants to play is more demanding than when Charlotte was a content, sleeping baby.
Maria finds many of her peers — even the single players — inquiring as to how she copes as a playing mom.
“I just tell them to enjoy it if they do it and you will feel what is right,” Maria said.
Bob Bryan, who along with his brother, Mike, has won a record 112 doubles titles, including 16 Grand Slams, travels part time with his wife, Michelle, and three children, ranging in age from 5 years to 20 months.
The Bryans have made more concessions of late with the family staying behind at times and when on the road bringing a nanny along to help.
“It’s made the road a lot more challenging,” Bob Bryan said. “Sometimes you have that feeling of guilt that you’re spending too much time at the courts when you should be being a dad and helping relieve some of the pressure off Michelle. And if I’m spending too much time at home, I’m feeling guilty about not being at the courts. It’s hard to find that perfect balance.”
Just over a year into being Sophia’s dad, Andy Murray also says fatherhood has called for career adjustments.
“When I’m looking at my schedule I speak with my wife a lot about it, about which events she’s going to potentially come along to, and making sure that we’re not apart for more than three or four weeks at a time,” he said. “I have noticed, especially in the last few months, the older that she gets, the more things she’s doing, the more she’s changing, so I don’t want to miss anything.”
James Blake lasted on the road for 18 months after his older daughter, Riley, was born before deciding it was time to quit after the 2013 U.S. Open. He felt ready for the new stage of his life, which includes commentating for Tennis Channel and playing golf for pleasure.
“Tennis is such a bubble,” Blake said. “It is your No. 1 (priority), No. 2, No. 3, and everything else pales in comparison. When you have a kid, it slows that down. I’m excited to see how they (Williams and Azarenka) do. ... But I think if they do it right, the perspective they can gain may even help their tennis.”
Asked how sure he was that Williams will return for the 2018 season, Mouratoglou offered no hesitation in his reply. “We are talking about Serena, so I’d say 99% yes (she’ll come back),” he said. “You know that Serena is not afraid about challenges. She needs challenges. There’s no challenge too big for her.
“Please write that she has no chance to come back, because that’s the best motivation you can give to her,” he added, laughing.