Patty Schnyder Brings a New Outlook and a New Family on Tour

“It felt really strange coming here again and competing,” Schnyder said. “Some great memories. I really wanted to show my kid around and have her with me.”

Schnyder, who is from Basel, Switzerland, was ranked No. 7 in the world in 2005. She played in 14 straight U.S. Open main draws, beginning in 1997, and reached the quarterfinals twice. She also reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2004.

But by 2011, burnout had set in. After a first-round loss at the French Open that year, Schnyder retired, sick of tennis and everything that went with it — especially the exhausting training and the relentless travel. She was off for three years and did some coaching during that time. Then, in 2015, about a year after giving birth to Kim, Schnyder discovered something.

“I got to know myself, that I really cannot stay in one place for more than two months,” she said. “And I love the sun. After my pregnancy, I said, ‘I want to get back in shape.’”

It was a slow process at first, as Schnyder hopped from one small outpost to another, playing tournaments in places like Brazil, Tunisia and China, usually with Kim and Kim’s father along for the ride.

Early on, Schnyder was ranked as low as No. 832, and the losses outnumbered the victories. But tennis, she said, had become enjoyable again.

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“When I first started, I didn’t have goals,” she explained. “I just wanted to have fun, and then I was a little bit surprised that I was having so much fun competing again.

“I was really frustrated when I first retired because it was just too much tennis, and I really didn’t want to travel any more, I didn’t want to play, I didn’t want to work out. I wanted a break. So I am really surprised at how much fun I’m having playing and being back.”

The objective now is not to be as good as she was a dozen years ago, but to be the best she can be now, to have fun doing it, and to have her daughter with her.

With steady improvement, Schnyder improved her ranking to No. 304 by the end of 2016. By Aug. 14 she was at No. 198, good enough to gain acceptance into the qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open. Three wins in qualifying earns a player a spot in the main draw. In the first round, Schnyder beat Bonaventure, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, in front of about 200 spectators on Court 12, and noted that she could still play better. But her quest fell short on Thursday night, when Schnyder lost her second-round match against Nicole Gibbs, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

Comebacks do not always go smoothly; Schnyder’s was not the only one to end on Thursday. Vera Zvonareva, a finalist at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2010 and a former world No. 2, in the early stages of her own return at age 32, lost a three-set clash with Jamie Loeb of the United States, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4, in front of a capacity crowd on Court 13. Afterward, she broke down in tears and declined to talk about resuming her career after two years away.

Zvonareva had not played in a Grand Slam event since the 2015 Australian Open, and like Schnyder, she recently had a child.

“I saw her yesterday,” Schnyder beamed. “It is similar, yes. Two mothers making comebacks.”

For Schnyder, motherhood will dictate her reinvestment in tennis. At a recent tournament, she signaled to Kim’s father in the stands, in the few seconds before receiving a serve, to cover Kim’s arms from the sun.

She said she planned to spend less time on court, and perhaps that will help stave off another burnout. Her routine is to work out in the mornings and then take the rest of the day off to be with her daughter.

“I am refusing to be 100 percent pro, because I want to spend time with her,” Schnyder said. “In the afternoons and evenings, I’m a mom, so not 100 percent pro. But that’s the way I want it to be.”

Making the U.S. Open qualifying draw was critical for Schnyder. She said that if she had not, she was considering going back into retirement. In the spring she set qualification for one of the three remaining majors as her goal — that, or have a second child. So for now, Kim will have to wait for a sibling as she travels the world.

Kim has already been to Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America as her mother gets her ranking, and her body, into shape.

“When we go to Australia next year,” Schnyder said proudly, “she will have all the continents.”

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