“The bounceback, it’s been difficult,” Taylor Townsend said of her comeback to tennis after embracing motherhood. About two years ago, Townsend announced her pregnancy following the US Open, and welcomed her baby in March 2021, Adyn Aubrey Allen. The journey was far from smooth, and her heartfelt admission of her emotional struggles echoes the same sentiments of her WTA colleague, Naomi Osaka, who has also publicly spoken about the challenges of balancing motherhood and professional tennis.

Following an exhausting battle with fertility issues, Townsend welcomed her child, Adyn, through a C-section in 2021. What came next was an 18-month break from her professional career to focus on her recovery process. Returning to the court in 2022, Townsend made sure to make the most of her lost time and even reached the women’s doubles US Open final for the first time. Two years have passed since, and as she reflected on her comeback, Townsend declared that the toughest aspect of it was the “psychological management.” 

In a candid revelation on iHeartPodcast Network, the Canadian Open quarterfinalist admitted, “Because there were so many changes that were occurring at like once. So, you know, like, new mom, like mom guilt of, like when I started coming back and like, training and everything, having to really be selfish. And you know, when you become a parent, like, everything is opposite of that.“

The 2024 Wimbledon doubles champion further added, “Especially a mother where like I’m nursing and all this stuff is like everything is about this baby. And so, getting to the place where I’m like, okay, this is my time. So becoming selfish in terms of, like, my time, the changes of the person that I made.” In a different interview, she once added that she wanted to come back “to win physically, mentally, and emotionally,” and that it took a lot of hard work for her to achieve that goal. We heard a similar story from the former World No. 1, Osaka, as well. 

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who came back to tennis earlier this year after giving birth to Shai in 2023, recently opened up on Instagram, stating, “My biggest issue is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body. It’s a strange feeling, missing balls I shouldn’t miss, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to.”  

Moreover, Osaka added that self-motivation does little to nothing in this regard, and it ends up being mentally draining. Her inconsistent performance this season has let her down, as she is struggling to enjoy the difficult process, which as per her, feels like “postpartum.“ Osaka concluded with a subtle sense of hope to stay disciplined amid the uncertainties. On the other hand, her peer, Townsend, once opened up on how she approached things to handle the “emotional jump” of coming back to action in tennis.

Taylor Townsend reflects on how “having a clear understanding” of her goal helped her balance her professional and motherhood journey

A couple of years ago, Taylor Townsend reflected on how she got herself ready to return to competition. The American stated that attaining a clear understanding of what she wanted, in terms of her approach to the return to the sport, was the biggest factor in a successful comeback.

Townsend wanted to “emotionally invest” in her gameplay in order to become “selfish” again, which became hard for her to achieve. “You have to do this for the child, you got to make time to pump and do all of this stuff in the extra hours throughout the day. But you have to make sure that you’re still taking the time to do things that you need to do and resting and recovering. So it’s really difficult to manage.“

Townsend is now aiming for her first Grand Slam in the US Open and is due to face Paula Badosa in the second round. Her motto to balance her professional career and motherhood is clear: “Put one foot in front of the other.“