Women’s tennis players will receive paid maternity leave for the first time in WTA Tour history, through a new program funded by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) — the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
The WTA announced on Thursday that paid leave of up to 12 months will be complemented by access to grants for fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF) and egg freezing. The tour estimates that more than 320 players will be eligible for the program. Each player that takes up funding will be paid the same, as-yet-undisclosed sum proportional to the duration of their leave.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka is a member of the WTA Players’ Council. In an interview on Tuesday from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., she said, “When I was pregnant, it was talked about as part of the rules around injuries. And I thought it was not very appropriate to call that an injury.
“When you aren’t able to perform, you lose your income and financial stability. So it was very important to see what we could do and how we could help.”
The initiative is one of the most significant developments in the multi-year partnership between the WTA and PIF signed last May, as well as Saudi Arabia’s increased visibility in women’s tennis. Last…
