WTA announces first-of-its-kind maternity benefits plan for tennis players
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WTA Players' Council Representative Victoria Azarenka expects the WTA's family benefits programme to have a lasting impact.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – The WTA will offer players up to 12 months of paid maternity leave for the first time, the women’s tennis tour said on March 6, as part of a sweeping new family benefits programme sponsored by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Under the plan, players will have access to grants for fertility treatment and other benefits. The WTA said it is the first time that maternity benefits are available to self-employed athletes.
“It can be challenging to balance the physical and emotional demands of a professional tennis career with the complexities of motherhood and family life,” WTA chief executive Portia Archer said.
“For some time, we have been exploring how we can increase our support for players to help them become parents.”
The WTA first announced its partnership with the PIF in 2024.
More than 320 players are eligible for the benefits, with criteria reliant on competing in a “certain number of WTA tournaments in a window of time”.
WTA Players’ Council Representative Victoria Azarenka, who gave birth in 2016 and missed eight months of competition in 2017 and 2018 due to a custody battle with her son’s father, said she expected the programme would have a “lasting impact”.
“This marks the beginning of a meaningful shift in how we support women in tennis, making it easier for athletes to pursue both their careers and their aspirations of starting a family,” the Belarusian two-time Grand Slam winner said.
Belinda Bencic, who won Olympic gold for Switzerland in Tokyo in 2021 and has returned to the WTA tour after having daughter Bella last April, also welcomed the development.
“Absolutely it’s the best news, really. I think we are very proud as players for the WTA (to be) the first sport in female sports to make this,” she said after cruising past Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-1, 6-1 in the Indian Wells first round.
Several other top players have taken a break from their careers to give birth, with varying degrees of impact on their subsequent careers. The WTA said 25 active players are mothers.
Belgian Kim Clijsters won three Slams – the US Open in 2009 and 2010 and the Australian Open in 2011 – after giving birth to her daughter in 2008, following in the footsteps of Australians Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong, who triumphed at Majors as mothers.
However, 23-time Slam winner Serena Williams did not win any after the birth of her first child in 2017.
Four-time Slam winner Naomi Osaka of Japan returned to the courts in early 2024 after giving birth to a daughter. Since then, her best result has been a final at the modest Auckland tournament in January.
Meanwhile at Indian Wells, Emma Raducanu’s struggles continued as the former US Open champion had no answers to the solid play of Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, who prevailed 6-3, 6-2 in the first round amid gusting winds.
The world No. 55 made the third round of the Australian Open in January, but has since suffered first-round exits in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
During her second-round match in Dubai in February, the 22-year-old Briton broke down in tears after noticing a stalker during the first set and ultimately lost to Czech Karolina Muchova.
“I didn’t have what happened in Dubai in my head at all today. If anything, it was like a bit of a lack of preparation on the tennis court, playing someone who played pretty good in these conditions,” she said. REUTERS, AFP
