As a mother who came back to tennis, Caroline Wozniacki urged the WTA to do more for players coming back from maternity leave.
An increasing number of players have opted to become mothers in recent years, and then return to the tennis courts. Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka did it years ago, as did Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka more recently.
Mechanisms allow players who opt for motherhood to return to the tennis courts, and the players' doing well after returning is certainly another factor contributing to more players choosing to do so.
Even so, one of the mothers, Wozniacki, who talked to PA, would like to see the WTA do more for mothers who come back to the Tour. She's been treated fairly well on her comeback, but in her and many other players' opinions, more could be done.
"I think I’ve been treated very well, The tournaments have really embraced me coming back and with kids. Where I do share my view, and where a lot of other women on tour share the view, is I think there should be more done for women coming back from maternity leave."
Motherhood is tricky for female athletes because it's a significant change in their lives and forces a pause in their careers. There is no way around it, and it's very different from coming back from an injury. It's more complicated in many ways, so more should be done to make it easier for players.
"It has been looked at because obviously there’s more players now that want to come back but, at the same time, it’s not the same as coming back from an injury. As someone who came back after almost four years, I think when you give birth and for the body to recover, you’ve grown a human inside you, there’s a lot of changes that are happening in the body after that."
"I think in general women deserve more time to feel, ‘OK, now I’m ready, I can really prepare and get ready for competing at the highest level'."
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