Women at work often struggle when they have babies. Unfortunately, this is especially true in the sport since the athletes have to recover a top form and they need to cope with different emotions.
It’s also a pity that new moms are “penalized” in tennis; a bright example is Serena Williams. In fact, the former world no.1 has lost her rank after she had to stay away from competitions for 14th months because of her pregnancy and the following complications.
Serena was unranked in Indian Wells where she lost to her sister Venus, and she is now (curiously) ranked world no.491 after her run in the desert.
The American will face the Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka in the Miami opener and that sounds a bit unfair for Williams. For this reason, the Miami tournament director, James Blake, says that the seeding system has to be re-thinked. The American commented
“I think they are going to start talking about changing the way some seedings are done and I hope they do.
For someone who goes on maternity break, they should be protected… It’s not as if she left because of an injury and lost her passion for the game. There should be a grace period where she can still be seeded.”
Do you agree with that?
| THE NICE OLD DAYS… JAMES AND SERENA |
| Embed from Getty Images |
