(ats) The Italian Fabio Fognini would like to see his wife Flavia Pennetta, retired from the courts since 2015, follow the path of Kim Clijsters by making a comeback on the circuit after having a child.
Pennetta, 38, ended her career soon after winning the US Open in 2015. The couple then had two children, Federico, 3, and Farah, born last December.
“I’m trying to get Flavia to come back in 2021, like Kim Clijsters,” said the 11th-ranked Italian in the daily Corriere della Sera.
“I spoke to (Francesca) Schiavone and (Corrado) Barazzutti: they train him and I manage everything, I have already planned the tournament program,” added the last winner of the Monte-Carlo Tournament.
The Belgian Kim Clijsters, former world No. 1, first moved away from the courts in late 2007 to marry and give birth to her first child (she has three today). She had made a resounding comeback in 2009 in which she had won three of her four Grand Slam titles (United States Open 2009 and 2010 and Australian Open 2011) before retiring a second time in 2012 and returning on the circuit at the start of the year, aged 36.
Flavia Pennetta, she has won 28 trophies on the WTA circuit during her career and has reached the place of world no. 6 in singles and no. 1 in doubles.
Regarding the current season, Fognini also estimated that it would be impossible to resume competitions, interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Right now, I can hardly imagine a recovery,” he said. “How can a tournament director take this responsibility for the health of players, staff, media, spectators?”
“My greatest fear is not to catch the virus, but to spread it. I am no longer alone, I am a father and a husband,” he added.
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