Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka & tennis world celebrates WTA's introduction of historic Maternity Fund Program

The two-time Grand Slam champion, Victoria Azarenka, initiated a maternity fund for women players in partnership with PIF and WTA. The programme supports female tennis players in starting a family by giving paid leaves during the pregnancy period or providing funds for any kind of fertility treatments for the athletes.

Many women tennis players and other people from the fraternity celebrated this groundbreaking initiative taken by Azarenka in partnership with PIF and WTA.

Azarenka became a mother in 2016 when she gave birth to her son, Leo. At that time, there were no programs or policies supporting women athletes starting a family.

In 2019, the WTA introduced a protected ranking system for players on maternity leave. This allowed players to compete in tournaments without going through the qualification rounds, regardless of their ranking. However, it did not solve all the problems faced by a woman athlete who wanted to conceive a child.

Azarenka, a WTA players council representative, finally made it possible. What started as a personal passion project will now help hundreds of women athletes to start families without hesitation while still being able to compete at the highest level. Something that the Belarussian had envisioned years ago has now become a reality.

The five-time Grand Slam champion, Maria Sharapova, showed her enthusiasm by reposting the WTA tweet and wrote:

YES YES YES (fist pump 😉 ) 🙌

Another WTA player, Katie Boulter, who is currently ranked No. 38 in the world, also shared her enthusiasm by reposting and reacting to the WTA’s tweet.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Ons Jabeur, a Tunisian tennis player and former World No. 2, who had also raised her voice against the problem, was seen celebrating this initiative. She posted an Instagram story reacting to the program.

👏👏👏

Judy Murray, Andy Murray’s mother and his former coach, also portrayed her happiness about the program through her Instagram story.

WTA leading the way with this first of its kind maternity fund for players. 💪👌❤

Ons Jabeur Instagram Story; Judy Murray's Instagram story - Source: Instagram/@onsjabeur (L), Instagram/@judymurray_ (R)

The widespread acknowledgment of the program showed its impact and significance. This will change how the players pursue their careers along with leading happy family lives. It is a huge step towards allowing the women tennis players to lead a life of their own choice without being bothered by external forces.

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Victoria Azarenka’s personal struggles became the stepping stone for the maternity fund program

Victoria Azarenka with her kid Leo at the Ecotrans Ladies Open Berlin 2024 - Source: Getty

The former World No. 1 talked about how she was scared about being able to play the sport on the highest level again. While talking to CNN Sport, Victoria Azarenka said:

“When I became pregnant with my son, it was a conversation about: am I going to be coming back to the tour or not? I had doubts right away. I was also scared … I was top five in the world at the time. It was an interesting way for me to find out that we didn’t really have any rules even in our organization to address maternity leave,” she said.

Azarenka had difficulty returning to the sport. Yet she battled through challenges to earn her place back in the tennis world, showing that motherhood and a career at the top of your sport are possible at the same time. She is ranked No. 35 in the world at the age of 35, which is quite impressive.

Victoria Azarenka's determination led to advocating the birth of a revolutionary policy that will shift the landscape of women’s tennis for generations. This initiative means that future players won’t have to choose between starting a family and maintaining their career, which was once an almost impossible thing to contemplate.