Pregnant players on the women’s tennis tour can receive 12 months of paid maternity leave, and those who become parents via partner pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption can get two months off with pay under a program sponsored by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and announced on Thursday by the WTA.
“Independent contractors and self-employed individuals don’t typically have these kinds of maternity benefits provided and available to them. They have to go out and sort of figure out those benefits for themselves,” WTA chief executive officer Portia Archer said.
“This is really sort of novel and groundbreaking,” she added.
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More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, which is retroactive to Jan. 1.
The WTA would not disclose how much money is involved.
The program — which the WTA touted as “the first time in women’s sports history that comprehensive maternity benefits are available to independent, self-employed athletes” — also provides grants for fertility treatments.
Several professionals in tennis have returned to action after having children, including past No. 1-ranked players and Grand Slam title winners such as Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka — a member of the WTA Players’ Council, which Archer acknowledged played a key role in pushing for this fund — thinks these benefits will encourage lower-ranked or lower-earning athletes to take as much time off as they feel they need after becoming a parent, rather than worrying about losing out on income while not entering tournaments.
“That’s certainly one of the aims of the program: to provide the financial resources, the flexibility, the support, so that these athletes, regardless of where they’re ranked, but particularly those who earn less, will have that agency ... to decide when and how they want to start their families,” Archer said.
Azarenka said that the changes could lead some players to become parents before retiring from the sport for good.
“Every feedback we’ve heard from players who are mothers — or who are not mothers — is like: ‘Wow, this is an incredible opportunity for us,’” said Azarenka, whose son, Leo, is eight. “I believe it’s really going to change the conversation in sports, but going beyond sports, it’s a global conversation, and I’m happy that we’re” part of it.
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