Caroline Wozniacki came, saw and was amazed. After a first walk through Bad Homburg, the Dane was delighted by the city center and the spa park. Wozniacki even found it “incredible” that the three grass courts on which the professional tennis tournament has been held since 2021 are embedded in the extensive green area and in the very best condition.
In view of all the beautiful tranquility, the Danish woman was immediately overcome with longing: “My first impression was: I wish my children were here!”
Caroline Wozniacki, however, decided to leave her daughter Olivia and son James at home so that she could devote herself to her professional development without interruption. Last week, at the WTA tournament in Birmingham, the two children and husband James were still there. The family is planned to be reunited next week in Wimbledon, where the tennis mother will be on her next business trip.
Kerber only with daughter
Angelique Kerber is different from her Danish friend. The German doesn’t travel anywhere without her daughter Liana, born in February 2023. Naomi Osaka does the same: when she’s not on the tennis court, she spends all her time with her daughter Shai, the Japanese recently said in Paris – “so that she doesn’t forget that I’m her mother.”
Kerber had made it clear from the start that she would only be traveling through the tennis world with her daughter. Since then, family and friends have been supporting her. She strives to “organize everything extremely well” when traveling to tournaments, Kerber said in Bad Homburg: “When I’m at a tournament, it’s important for me to know that I can concentrate completely on my tennis.” Because she is not only required to be a tennis professional in Bad Homburg, but also to be a tournament ambassador, good support is all the more urgent.
“The passion for the sport is extremely high”: Angelique Kerber hopes for unforgettable emotions in front of her home crowd.Imago
A good dozen tennis mothers are now on the WTA tour, four of them traveled to Bad Homburg: Tatjana Maria from Bad Saulgau, who is always and everywhere on the road with her husband and coach Charles-Édouard and their two daughters, was defeated in the first round on Sunday by the Bulgarian Viktoria Tomowa.
Kerber, Wozniacki and their Ukrainian first-round opponent Jelina Switolina started the tournament the next day, although Kerber was eliminated immediately after her defeat to Diana Schneider from Russia. Wozniacki’s first-round match was interrupted at nightfall on Monday evening. Others like Sabine Lisicki from Berlin or Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic are in high anticipation, have firmly planned a comeback and can find out from their colleagues what they have to prepare for when they return to work.
“It’s not easy because the body changes and it takes a lot of training to get back to your old form,” said Caroline Wozniacki, who returned to the professional tour last summer after two births and a three-and-a-half-year break. Angelique Kerber’s strict discipline helped her as she prepared for her comeback at the start of the 2024 season: “I had to be fit because the new generation is no longer to be trifled with. There is no mercy,” said the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner.
There is a reason for the unequal treatment
Some officials are also quite unkind to comeback moms. The professional association WTA has allowed tennis mothers to use their “special ranking” – the frozen world ranking position before the break – in a certain number of tournaments after their return.
This is how Kerber, who has now slipped to 221st place, handled it at the Bad Homburg Open. However, players who return quickly from maternity leave can use this advantage in fewer tournaments than players who take their time with their comeback.
There is a reason for the unequal treatment: the break rule was not introduced for mothers, but for injured players. Although the WTA has made progress, Wozniacki said: “But there is still a lot of work to be done. Mothers should be allowed to return without feeling rushed and stressed.”
In addition, the WTA does not regulate everything, but tournament organizers also have a say. For example, after her return, Wozniacki received a wildcard almost everywhere, including in Bad Homburg, which allowed her to start in the main draw as the 2018 Australian Open winner and former number one despite having no or poor world ranking position.
At the recent French Open, however, the French organizers denied her this easy access and instead sent local talents to the tournament. “You have to accept something like that,” said Wozniacki, whose father was very upset about it.
The anger quickly disappears as soon as the mothers come home from work. “You have to be able to function again straight away in the evening,” said Kerber, summing up a well-known mother’s experience. The good thing about it, according to the 36-year-old: “In the past, a defeat would bother me for two or three days because tennis was everything. Now you forget defeats more quickly, which is also good for you.”
