Saudi PIF to pay ‘up to 12 months’ maternity leave’ for tennis players

Former world No 1 Naomi Osaka returned to the courts in early 2024 after giving birth to a daughter. Photo / Photosport

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to finance a joint initiative with the WTA Tour for paid maternity leave of “up to 12 months” for players on the women’s tennis circuit, it was announced today.

The PIF WTA Maternity Fund Programme “will offer benefits to more than 320 eligible WTA players”, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said in a statement.

“WTA players will for the first time receive paid maternity leave up to 12 months and have access to grants for fertility treatments to build families, as well as other benefits,” it said.

Players will have to compete “in a certain number of WTA tournaments in a window of time” to benefit from the payments.

Two-time grand slam winner Victoria Azarenka, a WTA players council representative, welcomed “the beginning of a meaningful shift in how we support women in tennis, making it easier for athletes to pursue both their careers and their aspirations of starting a family”.

“Ensuring that programmes like this exist has been a personal mission of mine,” the Belarusian former world No 1, who gave birth to a son in 2016, was quoted in the statement as saying.

WTA chief executive Portia Archer said: “This initiative will provide the current and next generation of players the support and flexibility to explore family life, in whatever form they choose.”

Several top players have taken a break from their careers to give birth, with varying degrees of impact on their subsequent careers.

Belgian Kim Clijsters won three majors – the US Open in 2009 and 2010, and the Australian Open in 2011 – after giving birth to her daughter in 2008, following in the footsteps of Australians Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong who triumphed at grand slams as mothers.

However, 23-time grand slam winner Serena Williams did not win any after the birth of her first child, in September 2017, even though the American reached four finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Four-time grand slam winner and former world No 1 Naomi Osaka, of Japan, returned to the courts in early 2024 after giving birth to a daughter.

Since then, the 27-year-old’s best result has been a final at the ASB Classic in January.

Criticised by some tennis figures for its record on women’s rights, Saudi Arabia has boosted its tennis investments in recent years, organising the season-ending WTA Finals for the first time in Riyadh in November.

That came months after the WTA entered into a multi-year partnership with the PIF sovereign wealth fund, with the kingdom again set to host the WTA Finals this year and next.