Maria Sharapova seemingly couldn’t be any happier about the WTA’s latest move as the Russian publicly applauded the association for introducing paid maternity leave.
On Thursday, the WTA announced that in collaboration with their Saudi partners, they agreed on a historic paid maternity leave as female stars will be eligible for funds for up to 12 months. Also, there will be resources for players that need fertility treatments. And all of that will be funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Needless to say, the reactions to the news were great. Sharapova, one of the most iconic female tennis players, absolutely loved it even though she is retired and has confirmed several times that she has no plans of returning to the game.
“YES YES YES (fist pump),” the former five-time Grand Slam champion wrote on X in her response to the historic news.
Belinda Bencic also offered some major praise for the WTA
The Swiss tennis star, who announced her pregnancy in late 2023 and returned to tennis in 2024 November, thinks the WTA made an outstanding move that will help female players unbelievably.
“Well, of course I think it’s a great thing. It’s absolutely giving players the chance to not have to make such a hard decision. I think it makes their decision a little bit easier if they are looking for having a family and didn’t have to decide so much if it’s worth it,” Bencic explained.
“Especially the lower-ranked players, I think it’s important for them to have a guaranteed income so they don’t have to worry about money when they’re out for a year and a half and not stress about things. So I think it’s a great thing.”
Since returning to tennis, Bencic has been absolutely impressive as she has already won her first title as a mom in Abu Dhabi last month.
This week, she destroyed Tatjana Maria 6-1 6-1 in the Indian Wells first round and plays against Amanda Anisimova in the second round.
Tennis World USA