Former World No. 2 Li Na of China has backed 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams to make a swift comeback to competitive tennis after the birth of her daughter, but insisted that she would have never made a speedy return to the sport.
“Serena can fix everything,” Li said, sensing the immediate challenge Serena would face as a tennis-playing mother. “But if I think about myself, I couldn’t do that. With a baby so young, I couldn’t leave them.”
However, Serena’s best pal Caroline Wozniacki claimed that the American superstar was indeed focusing on her return to action and was doing everything possible to get ready for the defense of her Australian Open crown in January 2018.
“I think she’s going to do a strong comeback but I think at the same time she’s enjoying being a mum as well and getting that whole experience. I think it’s very special,” Wozniacki said in Wuhan.
Li, the 2011 French Open and the 2014 Australian Open champion, though looked uncertain at the prospect of her children choosing tennis to become professionals on the men’s and women’s tour.
“I would be happy of course, the sport can change you a lot, it can make a child stronger,” she said, adding that the amount of travel a tennis player has to do is “very tough”.
“It’s not easy to continue for so many years, to do the same thing and no time with family,” she added.
