Court returned after the birth of her first son, Daniel, to win the 1973 Australian, French and US titles; Goolagong Cawley's second Wimbledon triumph came in 1980, three years after her daughter, Kelly, was born.
Clijsters' irresistible family moment came just a day after the ugliness of Serena Williams' semi-final default, the defending champion having been wrist-slapped with a $US10,000 fine for her unsportsmanlike conduct towards a line judge.
Yet if Williams' reputation has been soiled, perhaps irreparably, Clijsters - the first wildcard, man or woman, to win the US Open - is the feel-good story of the women's tennis year.
''I was so very excited to hear that Kim won, and I'm so happy for her,'' Goolagong Cawley said yesterday. ''Go, mums.
''How gorgeous that she brought her daughter on court to celebrate.''
Goolagong Cawley said one of the biggest memories of her 1980 win was being told by a Wimbledon official how long it had been since a mother had last won that title - Dorothea Douglass Chambers in 1914.
Court said she was more relaxed as a player after having a family. ''It's like you're thinking 'I haven't got too much time to think about myself or what I'm doing, or get nervous about things'. You just get on with it and I think that's how (Clijsters) probably felt. When you're not practising you're doing the Mum things, you know.''
The 26-year-old Clijsters emerged from a 27-month retirement just five weeks ago, capping her run through the draw with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Caroline Wozniacki.
Through it all, curly-haired Jada played in the corporate boxes or watched from the stand, sucking on a dummy next to her father, basketballer Brian Lynch, before rather unsteadily joining her mother on court after the trophy presentation, as the clock neared 11pm.
''We tried to plan her nap time a little bit later today so she could be here,'' said Clijsters, whose family spent off days at the Central Park Zoo.
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