There is room for both motherhood and playing at the highest level of tennis, according to the head of the WTA Tour.
Steve Simon has publicly welcomed more mothers playing on the tour in a bid to make the WTA Tour more child-friendly. Former world No.1 Serena Williams is currently absent from tennis after giving birth to her first daughter Alexis. The 23-time grand slam champion is aiming to return to the tour in January to defend her title at the Australian Open. Just three months after becoming a mother.
“Serena is not the first high-profile mother that’s been a mum on the tour, the most recent past one was obviously Kim Clijsters,” Simon told reporters in Singapore.
“I think it’s something that’s exciting. It should be congratulated. There is room for both.
“It can be done and they can play at the highest level. Kim came back and won grand slams after being a mum.”
Clijsters, who won the 2010 and 2011 US Open, belong to a small group of women that have won a major title after giving birth. Others include Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong. Meanwhile, Lindsay Davenport, Kateryna Bondarenko and Patty Schnyder all resumes their careers after becoming parents.
Travelling the tour with a young child has its challenges. During the Wimbledon championships Victoria Azarenka admitted that she found the scheduling of the tournament ‘tough.’
“It is unusual. You know I had to be here the whole day which, for a new mum, is a little tough.” She told The Telegraph after her first round match ended at 9pm.
“Hopefully, I won’t play like this again.”
Tour boss Simon said he would welcome more mothers like Azarenka playing on the tour in the future.
“I hope that it becomes an issue that we have to deal with that we have more mums and kids out there, because it’s great to see,” he said.
“And we do have several players now that travel with children. It’s great. It’s wonderful.”
There are currently no parents ranked in the world’s top 20 on the WTA Tour.
