A comeback doesn’t guarantee success, but few sports offer more comebacks than professional tennis.
They are arriving in waves, especially in the women’s game where returning to activity after childbirth is increasingly common.
After the return of WTA stars Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki last season, the trend continues in 2024, with Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber, both former No. 1 players and multiple major champions.
Both are new mothers who have been competing for over a year, and both will be in the draw as the 2024 season begins in earnest on Sunday, starting with the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which Kerber won in 2016. Osaka in 2019 and 2021.
“I’m so happy to see this,” said Belgian former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters, who made one of her most successful comebacks since giving birth with a wildcard win at the 2009 U.S. Open. “I know that when I started, some of the rules that are in place now weren’t enforced. I know Serena (Williams) has definitely changed a lot. There are various guidelines to make it easier for athletes to avoid feeling pressured, which is why female athletes are pressured to postpone pregnancy. Even if you are ready and want to do it, you may still be put off by your career or sponsors.”
Significant obstacles remain, especially for players who were not ranked highly before maternity leave or lack the financial means to travel on tour with their families and support teams. But the landscape is changing.
Tennis has a history of mothers winning singles majors. Australians Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong played tennis in the 1970s and 1980s before Clijsters. However, the number of working mothers participating in the tour has increased. Serena Williams has reached four major singles finals since her return to tour in 2018, but has lost all of them.
Osaka, 26, and Kerber, who turns 36 on Thursday, are at different stages of their careers, but both return after just over a year.
They will be joined at the Australian Open by surprise 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who returns from multiple surgeries at the age of 21 after almost eight months away. Rafael Nadal, one of the greatest players of all time, would have joined in Melbourne had Nadal not withdrawn from last week’s comeback tournament in Brisbane due to a new injury he suffered.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam singles champion, has been sidelined for nearly a year due to left hip and psoas injuries that required surgery last June. In Brisbane, after two convincing wins filled with winners and passion, he lost to Jordan Thompson in the quarter-finals. Nadal later announced that he suffered a small muscle tear, not in the same area as his previous injury.
A return, especially at age 37, comes with a lot of uncertainty. But the oft-injured Nadal plans to return to action this season, which he says will most likely be his last. His goal is to reach the pinnacle of the European clay court season. The competition will culminate in the French Open at Roland Garros and the Summer Olympics tennis competition. It was here that Nadal had his most dominant performance, winning a record 14 singles titles.
Osaka has more time on her side. She left her tour at the end of 2022 and briefly considered her retirement as she no longer found enjoyment in the game, she said. However, after returning after giving birth to her daughter last July, she showed a sparkling dominant performance, although she lost in the second round of the Brisbane Comeback Tournament in a tie for 833rd place.
“It’s sad to lose Naomi from tennis at such a young age,” said Paul Annacon, former coach of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Sloan Stevens. “Obviously he could take a hit, but if he’s mentally and physically healthy, I don’t think there’s any reason why he can’t give himself a chance to come back and challenge for the second half of the majors. But a lot will depend on how well her mind guides her body for her.”
Osaka’s first serve and groundstrokes remain one of the most powerful weapons in the women’s game, and her big-bang baseline play beats women’s game leaders No. 1 Iga Swiatek, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Elena Rybakina.
Many people believe that Osaka’s mobility and diversity require work. But while she would like to become more versatile, she remains a one-sided threat with little experience or success on grass courts or clay. Still, most of the tour, including the Australian Open, is played on hard courts suitable for the high-stakes matches in Osaka, and her eagerness to compete was evident in Brisbane as well.
“The most important thing I heard from her is that she is very motivated,” Clijsters said. “I think if she has that faith and belief, she can do anything. Of course, she has to have everything right to win a slam. There are a lot of good players who are really hungry to win and make it difficult. But Naomi can definitely achieve great success with this mindset.”
Clijsters has experienced successful and unsuccessful comebacks. Coming off her early retirement in 2009, she went on to win three majors before retiring again in 2012. She said it was due to nagging and a desire to spend more time with her growing family. However, she returned to the tour again in 2020 at the age of 36, feeling isolated on her tour due to the pandemic, playing only five singles matches in two years and losing them all.
She is now retired and lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children, and serves as honorary president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
“Now that I’m older and looking back, the best times in my career were when I was training for big goals,” she said. “The time spent holding the trophy is very short. I think the addictive part is the part before the big moment.
“I think a lot of people out there have a hard time accepting that once you win a bunch of Grand Slams and you’re number one in the world, you can have fun in tournaments and maybe lose early. Losing is no fun. do not misunderstand. But there is still fun in being prepared and going out there and trying to find a solution. Sure, your goal at the end of the day is to lift the trophy, but that’s not what drives you when you wake up every morning. “It’s a small goal.”
Osaka, like other teams making their return, will not be seeded at the Australian Open. That means anyone can draw in the first round. She drew 16th seed Caroline Garcia, while Kerber will face former Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins, also unseeded.
Kerber returned to competition in the United Cup, a mixed men’s and women’s team event. Her team, Germany, won the title despite only winning one of five singles matches. She can still move beautifully and read the flow of her play, but to many, her counter-punching game looks weak at this stage.
But she, Osaka, Radukanu and Wozniacki have the potential to make the seeded players suffer in Melbourne.
“They’re all floaters,” said Jessica Pegula, ranked fifth in the U.S. “It’s pretty scary,” he said. Dangerous players who are not seeded can land anywhere in the draw.
It will be an exciting opening week, but the real thrill will come if Osaka and other members of the comeback crew can also go deep into the second week.
