Cara Black, Lachie and Anastasia Rodionova. Photo / Getty Images
Cara Black didn't think she would ever play professional tennis again, let alone add a WTA title to the 54 she had previously won, but she might need to change her goals after winning the ASB Classic doubles title yesterday.
The reason for her doubts is eight months old -
her son Lachie, to whom she immediately gave the thumbs-up after she and Australia's Anastasia Rodionova beat top seeds Julia Goerges and Yaroslava Shvedova 2-6 6-2 10-5.
The 33-year-old Zimbabwean, who lives in Melbourne, had Lachie and her husband on hand as she won the title in her first tournament after a two year absence.
The former world No1 doubles player needed a wildcard to play in Auckland. I Her ranking should jump quickly, especially if she plays as well as she did this week.
"It's a bit of a fairy tale," Black said. "I never thought I would play again, so anything now is a bonus. I thought that was it for me. But after having Lachie and having that time away from the game, which I had never had before because I had been pretty much injury-free my whole career, I just wanted to come back and give it another shot. I think that mental break was a big difference for me."
