The WTA announced a groundbreaking maternity benefits program Thursday, offering financial support for players who become parents. The initiative, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), provides 12 months of paid maternity leave for pregnant players and two months of paid leave for those who become parents via partner pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption.
“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 CEO Portia Archer said, as reported by Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press. “This is really sort of novel and groundbreaking.”
More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The WTA did not disclose the financial details but emphasized the historic nature of the program, calling it “the first time in women’s sports history that comprehensive maternity benefits are available to independent, self-employed athletes.”
The program also includes financial support for fertility treatments, such as egg freezing and in vitro fertilization (IVF). The initiative aligns with broader efforts in women’s sports to address parental and maternity needs as female athletes increasingly return to competition after giving birth.
Currently, 25 mothers are active on the WTA Tour. Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic recently won a title after returning from maternity leave in October. Other high-profile players, including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka, have also resumed their tennis careers after becoming parents.
Azarenka, a member of the WTA Players’ Council, played a key role in advocating for the initiative. She believes the program will give lower-ranked players more financial security when deciding to take maternity leave.
“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 called the initiative a “monumental change” and sees it as just the beginning of broader improvements for players. “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,’” she said.
The post WTA makes major benefits announcement for tennis players appeared first on ClutchPoints.
