Serena Williams penalised for having a baby

In the world of equal rights on gender, it seems remarkable that former World number one Serena Williams should be penalised for taking time out of the game to start a family. But as she was ranked number one in the world when she began her baby leave and she is now raked 491 on her return to the game, what other interpretation can be drawn?

James Blake, the director of the Miami Open Tennis Tournament and former World number four tennis player, has brought the topic into the limelight following Serena’s tough opening round draw in the competition he is running.

Serena not seeded for the Miami Open

Williams, who is now 36 years-of-age, has been drawn to play Naomi Osaka in the opening round of the tournament. Bearing in mind that Serena has won this competition on eight previous occasions, Blake feels that Williams should have been given some sort of protection to get the benefit of an easier fixture and a better path through the competition.

He went on to say that she did not leave the game through injury or because her passion for the game had diminished. She abonded the tour to have her first child – something that the tennis world should be celebrating. On her return to the game, she ought to be given some type of a period of grace where she can be awarded some form of seeding.

Serena’s come-back will be tough

The bottom line as things stand at the moment, is that Serena, who has won 23 Grand Slam titles in her tennis career to date, has no official ranking. It means that she cannot be seeded for WTA tournaments. She can, however, enter eight competitions per year, and two of these can be grand slams. Without seeding though, she will be faced with the toughest of paths.

Serena’s progress in her comeback to date ended at the beginning of March when she was beaten in the third round of the Indian Wells competition by her sister, Venus. It was the first match that they had played each other in since the second round of the Australian Open back in 1998 – some 20-years-ago.

But given Serena’s drive and passion for the game, she is sure to fight vigorously to reassert herself in the world rankings, and for those who feel they would like to bet on her progress, they could benefit from attractive odds.

Particular seeding option cast out by WTA

It used to be the case that special seeding could be given to players coming back into the game after a long time out. However, this option was ruled out by the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association).

More recently, the rules were modified to enable women players who took maternity leave, to come back into competition with a protected ranking. It does not, however, mean that they can be seeded.

The CEO of the WTA, Steve Simon, stated that in the past, players have advised that they believed men and women returning to competitive tennis after long lay-offs, should be seeded.

WTA may review the rules

When one looks at this in light of the employment and wage protection offered to working women in general, however, it does seem somewhat unfair.

With regards to recent events, Mr Simon did say that the WTA is very supportive of women players returning to the tour following pregnancy. He went on to say that he believed that the rules would be subject to further review.