Kim Clijsters stands just two match wins at the 2009 US Open shy of joining a very elite club in the history of tennis. Clijsters is looking to join a very exclusive club of five moms to win a major singles title. As documented in the book THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95, New Chapter Press, www.NewChapterMedia.com), moms to win a major singles title are as follows;
Dorothea Douglass Chambers – The British great won two of her Wimbledon titles after the birth of her first child (1910, 1911) and two more after the birth of her second child (1913, 1914).
Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman – She was challenged by her father to win the U.S. Championship after she became a mom. In her first return appearance, she lost in the 1915 singles final to Molla Mallory, but she did turn the trick until 1919, when at 32 years old, she beat Marion Zinderstein Jessup 6-1, 6-2 to win her fourth U.S. title.
Sarah Palfrey Cooke – This American star did not defend her 1941 U.S. title due to pregnancy (she was married to standout American player Elwood Cooke), but she won the 1945 U.S. title, beating Pauline Betz as a 33-year-old mother.
Margaret Court – The Australian who was the most prolific winner of majors championships ever (62 titles in singles, doubles and mixed) actually played the 1971 Wimbledon women’s singles final while pregnant with her first child, son Daniel, losing to Evonne Goolagong. Court, however, returned to win the Australian, French and U.S. Opens in 1973.
Evonne Goolagong – The most recent of moms to win a major, Goolagong beat Chris Evert Lloyd in the 1980 Wimbledon final. Her first daughter, Kelly, was born on May 12, 1977 and Goolagong won the Australian Open at year’s end after playing only six events.
Clijsters gave birth to daughter Jada on Feb. 27, 2008 and has played two events on the WTA Tour in her post-child-birth comeback, reaching the quarterfinals of Cincinnati and the round of 16 of Toronto earlier this summer. Clijsters also currently does not have a WTA singles ranking and would equal the lowest-ranked player to win a major in the history of women’s tennis. Goolagong also was un-ranked when she won the 1977 Australian Open also when she returned to the women’s circuit after giving birth to a daughter. After more than a year off the circuit, Goolagong won the Australian Open after winning four tournaments on the Australian summer circuit over a six week period in late 1977.