"There is no chance" - Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys make their feelings clear on not playing tennis after motherhood

Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys recently shared their thoughts on whether they would keep playing tennis professionally even after becoming mothers. The American WTA stars laid bare their respect for the mothers currently active on tour, but when it came to themselves, they completely ruled out playing competitively if they are to go on and become mothers in the future.

Both Pegula and Keys are in romantic relationships. While the former is engaged to her long-term partner Taylor Gahagen, the latter got married to her coach Bjorn Fratangelo in November last year. However, so far, the WTA stars, aged 31 and 30 respectively, are yet to embrace motherhood.

Recently, the duo spoke up about the subject on an episode of The Player's Box Podcast, which they co-host along with fellow American WTA players Desirae Krawczyk and Jennifer Brady. Here, Brady asked Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys if they would ever consider continuing their tennis-playing careers after becoming mothers. Dismissing the possibility entirely, Pegula said:

"No. There is no chance I would come back after having a kid. I admire and respect the ones that do but that's just not on the cards for me. I cannot see myself doing that at all." (from 11:59)

Echoing her compatriot's sentiments, Keys added:

"I don't see that happening. I also feel like I have a hard enough time traveling and keeping myself on a schedule. I can't imagine adding a baby to that. Like, for all people involved, I just feel that would be really, really hard."

"I'm so impressed at all the moms on tour" - Madison Keys wonders how mothers in tennis balance their on-court and off-court responsibilities

Madison Keys during a press conference at the 2025 National Bank Open (Source: Getty)

Madison Keys went on to express her curiosity about the active WTA players such as Naomi Osaka and Belinda Bencic, who also happen to be mothers, in terms of how they juggle the tennis-playing side of their lives with the responsibilities that naturally come with motherhood. According to Keys, tennis life is already quite taxing for her because of the relentless training and travel requirements.

"I'm so impressed at all of the moms on tour who do it, especially like there's a few that have multiple children and everything and it's just like, 'yeah, it's totally fine, no problem', and I'm like, 'I can't function. How are you managing playing, jetlag, training enough, all of the things? And then it's like you're also a mom, like all of the time. How do you do that?'," Keys said.

Keys is currently out nursing an injury and hasn't played since her shocking first-round exit from this year's US Open. Meanwhile, Pegula is in Wuhan, China, for the 2025 Wuhan Open. The American, seeded No. 6 in the singles main draw of the WTA 1000 hardcourt event, has received a first-round bye and will begin her campaign with a second-round clash against compatriot Hailey Baptiste.