Saudi Arabia to fund paid maternity leaves for pregnant tennis players

Riyadh: A Saudi Arabia-sponsored programme is going to fund an initiative that will provide pregnant women’s tennis players on tour with 12 months of paid maternity leave. The initiative will also provide two months’ paid leave to those who become parents via partner pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption. The WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) announced that the fund will be provided by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, The Associated Press reported.

“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. “This is really sort of novel and groundbreaking.”

More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, which is retroactive to Jan 1. However, the WTA would not disclose how much money is involved.

The programme — which the WTA touted as “the first time in women's sports history that comprehensive maternity benefits are available to independent, self-employed athletes” — also provides grants for fertility treatments, including egg freezing and IVF.

It's part of a wider trend: As women's sports rise, there is an emphasis on meeting maternity and parental needs.

The WTA says 25 moms are active on tour; one, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, won a title last month after returning from maternity leave in October.

More and more pros in tennis have returned to action after having children, including past No. 1-ranked players and Grand Slam title winners such as Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka — a member of the WTA Players' Council, which Archer acknowledged played a key role in pushing for this fund — thinks these benefits will encourage lower-ranked or lower-earning athletes to take as much time off as they feel they need after becoming a parent, rather than worrying about losing out on income while not entering tournaments.

“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.

And, Azarenka said, this could lead some players to decide to become parents before retiring from the sport for good.

“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,'” said 2012-13 Australian Open champion Azarenka, whose son, Leo, is 8. “I believe it's really going to change the conversation in sports. But going beyond sports, it's a global conversation, and I'm happy that we're (part of it).”

Other steps the WTA has taken in recent years to benefit players include steering more women into coaching, implementing safeguarding, attempting to stem cyberbullying, and increasing prize money with an eye to pay that equals what men receive in the sport.

The Public Investment Fund, or PIF, became the WTA's global partner last year after much public debate — Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were among the critics — over questions about LGBTQ+ and women's rights in Saudi Arabia.

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

“We wouldn't have been able to provide the benefits were it not for this relationship and the funding that PIF provides,” Archer said.