Funded by Saudi Arabia, women's tennis players to receive maternity pay for 1st time

Howard Fendrich · The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 12:40 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Pregnant players connected the women's tennis circuit present tin person 12 months of paid maternity leave, and those who go parents via spouse pregnancy, surrogacy oregon adoption tin get 2 months disconnected with pay, nether a programme sponsored by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and announced Thursday by the WTA.

"Independent contractors and self-employed individuals don't typically person these kinds of maternity benefits provided and disposable to them. They person to spell retired and benignant of fig retired those benefits for themselves," WTA CEO Portia Archer said. "This is truly benignant of caller and groundbreaking."

More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, retroactive to Jan. 1. The WTA would not disclose however overmuch wealth is involved.

The program, which the WTA touted arsenic "the archetypal clip successful women's sports past that broad maternity benefits are disposable to independent, self-employed athletes," besides provides grants for fertility treatments, including ovum freezing and IVF.

It's portion of a wider trend: As women's sports rise, determination is an accent connected gathering maternity and parental needs.

How galore mothers are connected the women's tennis circuit now?

The WTA says 25 moms are progressive connected tour; one, Tokyo Olympics golden medallist Belinda Bencic, won a rubric past period aft returning from maternity permission successful October.

More and much pros successful tennis person returned to enactment aft having children, including past No. 1-ranked players and Grand Slam rubric winners specified arsenic Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka, a subordinate of the WTA Players' Council which Archer acknowledged played a cardinal relation successful pushing for this fund, thinks these benefits volition promote lower-ranked oregon lower-earning athletes to instrumentality arsenic overmuch clip disconnected arsenic they consciousness they request aft becoming a parent, alternatively than worrying astir losing income portion not entering tournaments.

'Great opportunity'

"That's surely 1 of the aims of the program: to supply the fiscal resources, the flexibility, the support, truthful that these athletes, careless of wherever they're ranked, but peculiarly those who gain less, volition person that bureau ... to determine erstwhile and however they privation to commencement their families," Archer said.

And, Azarenka said, this could pb immoderate players to determine to go parents earlier retiring from the athletics for good.

"Every feedback we've heard from players who are mothers, oregon who are not mothers, is like, 'Wow, this is an unthinkable accidental for us,"' said 2012-13 Australian Open champion Azarenka, whose son, Leo, is 8. "I judge it's truly going to alteration the speech successful sports. But going beyond sports, it's a planetary conversation, and I'm blessed that we're [part of it]."

Other steps the WTA has taken successful caller years to payment players see steering much women into coaching, implementing safeguarding, attempting to stem cyberbullying, and expanding prize wealth with an oculus to wage that equals what men person successful the sport.

What relation does Saudi Arabia person successful tennis?

The Public Investment Fund, oregon PIF, became the WTA's planetary spouse past year, aft overmuch nationalist statement — Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were among the critics — implicit questions astir LGBTQ+ and women's rights successful Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom present hosts the season-ending WTA Finals and an ATP lawsuit for rising stars of men's tennis. The PIF sponsors the WTA and ATP rankings.

"We wouldn't person been capable to supply the benefits were it not for this narration and the backing that PIF provides," Archer said.

What are maternity permission policies successful golf, shot and basketball?

• In golf, which similar tennis is an idiosyncratic athletics without guaranteed salaries, the LPGA introduced an updated maternity permission argumentation successful 2019 that allows athletes person the aforesaid playing presumption erstwhile they return.
• In soccer, some the NWSL and the U.S. women's nationalist squad person corporate bargaining agreements that let for gestation permission and parental leave; the NWSL pays the afloat basal wage portion an jock is pregnant.
• In basketball, the WNBA's CBA guarantees afloat wage during maternity leave.

For tennis, Azarenka said, the PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program is "just the beginning."

"It's an unthinkable beginning. Monumental change," she said. "But I deliberation we tin look into however we tin grow this money for bigger, amended things."