Women’s tennis players get maternity update as | Sports News

The WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) will provide 12 months of paid maternity leave to eligible members going forward. Multiple former Grand Slam winners have called for this change in recent years, including Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka. 

Players must complete a select number of tournaments to qualify for the new policy set to be fully funded by the Public Investment Fund (PIF). 

The PIF, the sovereign wealth fund backrolling Saudi Arabia, announced its partnership with the tennis league in May 2024. Together they’ve launched the new PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program. 

“I think it would definitely be life-changing and I feel like having a kid shouldn’t feel like a punishment,” Osaka told BBC Sport in 2024.

“For most female athletes, I think there’s a discussion that your career’s going to change dramatically or going to finish because you have a kid, so just appreciating them more and giving more options is something that is very necessary.”

“So I didn’t even know if my sponsors wanted to take up the energy to go through this with me,” she told Glamour in 2024. But I’m really happy that I chose people around me that understand me and we’re going through this adventure together. I guess the biggest elephant in the room is Nike, but they’ve been so extremely helpful.”