For a very long time, many people assumed that mothers couldn't be competitive on the WTA Tour, but lately, we've seen that's far from the truth.
Victoria Azarenka was one of the first ones to dispel those claims because she became a mother fairly early in her career and then returned. She not only returned but she returned and played really well.
It wasn't something people were used to. Then we saw some other players do it as well, and now it's basically standard practice. People don't even blink anymore when a player becomes a mother and returns to play really well.
It's something Andy Murray praised this year, admitting that it's a great example for other players. Players don't have to push it back and wait until retirement, as they can actually return to their peak tennis.
Pregnancy is far more impactful on women for obvious reasons, so a lot of athletes literally plan it out in detail. Stories like the ones of Azarenka, Serena Williams, Tatjana Maria, and more recently, Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki reduce anxiety about it, which Azarenka personally is really proud of.
I'm very excited to see players are coming back. I've said it few years ago already. I think we broke the stereotype that you be an athlete and have family. This definitely has been broken. It's actually evolved more and more. The testament of that is how many players are feeling comfortable and confident coming back and continue being on tour.
While these recent developments on that front have been pretty good, Azarenka would like to see even more done in the future. She's pretty dedicated to elevating women in sports, and that's a great thing because it's needed.
I believe that we still have a lot more growth to do in that space to continue to push forward being a women's leading sport. How we can make our athletes feel more secure, more comfortable at all levels, not just top level.
At lower levels, where they have that stability, financial security to keep coming back. I think we have an opportunity to do that in women's sports like maybe not before. I hope we put the right resources into that.
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