“And we are back! With one more member to our team” wrote Belinda Bencic while making a return to the court after becoming a mother. She took an extended pause last year but the Swiss player is back now. She’s taking ‘baby steps’ once again into professional tennis. The former world no.4 is determined to make her presence felt again and has already expressed her intentions for 2025. And what’s better than to celebrate her motherhood with a Major title next season? She’s clearly eying to recreate a historic moment accomplished by only two former WTA mothers. One that even Serena Williams couldn’t replicate!

In an interview with Tennis Magazin, dated November 28, Belinda Bencic shared her experience of being a mother and her journey back to the court. The 27-year-old is working hard on getting in form in time. Her former coach Ian Hughes and Martin Hromkovic, who’s also her husband, are making sure she’s fit and focused going into the first Major of new year – the Australian Open. Speaking of which, Bencic mentioned how much she wants to win a Grand Slam. It’s something she’s not been able to do so far. “I still aim to win a Grand Slam title. I don’t know when and don’t put any time pressure on me, but it would be great until the end of my career,” she said.

When asked if she wants to be the next mother in WTA history to clinch a Major trophy, similar to Kim Cllijsters and Margaret Court, Belinda said, “Yes that would be cool. I have always said that it is a dream and I will do my best. I train for that every day.”  She also added that results are not in her hand but her constant efforts are. “In the end, I cannot influence whether it works or not, except that I will do everything for it”, Belinda told Tennis Magazin.

For the unversed, Margaret Court and Kim Clijsters are the only players in history who have won Grand Slams after becoming a mother. Margaret was the first one to accomplish this milestone. She did it more than 50 years ago in 1973, clinching the Australian Open, the French Open, and the Wimbledon. Speaking of Clijsters, she won the US Open in 2009 and then in 2010 after giving birth to her daughter. Surprisingly, the most iconic tennis player and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams has never won a Major after giving birth to daughter Olympia. While she did won the Australian Open in 2017, she was still pregnant with Olympia.

Coming back to Bencic, she just wants to make a grand comeback. After all, she’s been away from the court for 400 days. But motherhood is also equally important for her.

Belinda Bencic justifies decision to be a mother at an early stage of career

In the same interview, the Swiss player revealed why she chose to be a mother at a young age. When asked whether it was better to wait, she answered, “For me it feels exactly right. We made a conscious decision. I think it’s better to interrupt your career now and be able to play for a few more years instead of having the pressure to stop at 33 or so.”

Adding further, she said that her biggest dream was “to have a family. I found it better that way. Now I can play as long as possible and then have more children.” Moreover, she mentioned that the break was nice anyways as she got to be at home. There was a lot of fun stuff she did while preparing for her first child’s birth. “Pregnancy had completely different topics to deal with. Set up baby rooms, buy baby things. There were a lot of great moments. I didn’t get bored and I like to be at home. I already missed tennis, but didn’t think I had to play tennis every day,” she revealed.

On a lighter note, she confessed that the break gave her time away from traveling. “I found it pleasant to have a break from traveling. Otherwise I don’t think tennis life is so terrible. It is of course demanding and you have to be mentally ready and exercise a lot. But I knew what to expect because I decided to do it,” she said.

It will be intriguing to see Belinda Bencic’s return to the court after more than a year. Will she win her first Grand Slam trophy after being a mother? Only time will tell the answer. But avid fans will surely hope for her to achieve this feat.