Belinda Bencic is returning to motherhood — here's how she's coping

Belinda Bencic became a mother for the first time in early April and now the 27-year-old Olympic champion will return to Hamburg for the provincial championships. As she revealed, nothing has changed in her ambitions.

Simon Harling/ch media

414 days have passed since Belinda Bencic last played a tennis match in Santiago in the fall of 2023. In April, she gave birth to daughter Bella with fiancé Martin Hromkovic. Now the 27-year-old will return to the court for a tournament on the outskirts of Hamburg. She will face Russia's Yulia Avdeeva (WTA 238) on Wednesday.

In northern Germany, they couldn't believe their luck that Bencic, a former world number four, two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist and 2021 Olympic individual champion, was able to compete in the event in Hamburg. In addition to Swiss TV, TV channels Sat 1 and NDR also wanted to talk to the new mother.

Belinda Bencic's return comes earlier than widely expected. This was possible because her fiancé took a lot of care away from her, and her two grandmothers were also a great source of support. Her daughter Bella is everywhere she goes: on the court or working out in the fitness center. «I have to say Bella is a very happy baby. She lets me sleep at night, which is amazing. This allows me to focus on training. “

The Eastern Switzerland native said she played in Hamburg because they wanted to know how she could combine the demands of her family with her future life as a tennis player, and she never had any doubts that she wanted to continue her career. . Profession. Of course, it's a big challenge, “but we're not unique. There are millions of mothers around the world trying to balance family and work.” Bencic said the trip to Hamburg was daughter Bella's first flight .

“Of course” not yet at its best

Her fiancé, who is also her fitness trainer, was also challenged by having to learn new things, such as pelvic floor training. Two months postpartum, she started moving, first for 10 minutes and then for 15 minutes. “It was a very slow, careful start. After getting pregnant, my body felt different and I had to learn to listen to it,” Bencic said.

Bencic said she's enjoying the progress and process, but “of course” she's not at her best yet. She hopes to achieve this by playing in Australia at the end of the year at the Fed Cup and then the Australian Open.

Major Support: Mothers Dana and Belinda Bencic at the Sports Awards.Image: trapezoid

Target? grand slam champion

Bencic said she still wants to be the best player in the world, and she found it inspiring to see how other mothers have come back successfully. «But now I see the world from a different perspective. So far, tennis has been everything to me. Now I am much more relaxed. I see it as my job and I still love and thoroughly enjoy doing it. “

Taking a break and becoming a mother didn't change her lofty goals. “I still want to be one of the best in the world,” she said. Ever since Belinda Bencic first picked up a racket at age two, she has had one goal: win a Grand Slam tournament. «I really want this. I'll get there before I put down my racket for good. I still have time,” she said in the fall of 2022.

In 2019, Belinda Bencic reached the semifinals of the US Open.Image source: Associated Press

Benefit from maternity leave time

But it is here that her record is limited: in 33 attempts, she has only reached the last 16 three times. Her best result was at the 2019 US Open, when she reached the semifinals. In 2023, she failed three times in the second round and once in the first round.

Only seven women have won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon or U.S. Open as mothers. Only one woman has achieved this feat at Wimbledon, Bencic's favorite tennis tournament: Evonne Goolagong in 1980. All seven women have one thing in common: She won a Grand Slam before the birth of her first child.

At least a new rule introduced in early 2019 to protect mothers is helping Bencic return. They are entitled to a protected ranking for three years after the birth of their child; the previous maximum period was two years after the last competition. In 2025, Belinda Bencic can have a protected ranking in two Grand Slam tournaments, five of the ten Masters events and a total of eight tournaments. (aargauerzeitung.ch)

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