We saw Serena Williams come back after pregnancy, now Elina Svitolina has increased pressure on Caroline Wozniacki & Naomi Osaka: Andrea Petkovic
Former German tennis star Andrea Petkovic recently shared her thoughts on women's players like Serena Williams and Elina Svitolina, who made a successful comeback on the WTA Tour after giving birth.
Andrea Petkovic retired from professional tennis in 2022 with 7 titles under her belt. She recently sat down for an interview with the Tennis Channel and discussed her delight in seeing so many players return to the tour after giving birth and finding success.
The 35-year-old credited the WTA for making it easier for mothers to return to action after their maternity break. Petkovic highlighted the introduction of the protected ranking system, which allows players who have been on the sideline for a minimum of six months due to physical injury, illness, or maternity leave to enter tour tournaments via the player's average ranking position during the first three months of their hiatus.
Petkovic argues that the system has allowed mothers to compete directly in the WTA Tour and not grind it out in lower-level tournaments.
"I think the WTA has put into place a few new rules that support coming back, which was much harder before. You wouldn't have got the protected ranking, so you had to go back to grinding on the Challenger tour, which is much harder with a kid. So I think that's the systemic part," Petkovic said.
The German then cited the role models like Williams, Svitolina, and others who have played a crucial role in inspiring many more women to return to the tour after post-maternity. She particularly praised Svitolina, who went from being World No. 1081 in April to World No. 27 in July, as she has become one of the stories of the season after her mindblowing return.
Petkovic believes Svitolina's form will put pressure on other mother players like Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka, and Angelique Kerber, who have/are expected to come back to the tour after giving birth.
"The other part is role models. Now, you see that it's possible. We saw Serena (Williams) do it. We now see Elina Svitolina, although now I have to ask myself if she now increased the pressure on people like Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka, and also Angie Kerber, Petkovic opined."
"Because I think they were thinking, we will comeback and, in Germany, we saw "puppy protection phase," where we are like "Oh, she was just pregnant, let's see what she does and we will re-evaluate after a year." But now Svitolina is coming back so strongly, I think they will feel a little bit of pressure to do the same, she continued."
Serena Williams won her first title after giving birth to Olympia at the 2020 Auckland Open
Serena Williams gave birth to her first child, Olympia, in 2017 and returned to the WTA Tour after a brief time to recover. She returned to the tour at the 2018 Indian Wells Open and played six finals until her retirement in 2022. In 2018 she reached the final of the Wimbledon and US Open, and in 2019, she played the title matches at Wimbledon, the Canadian Open, and the US Open.
Serena Williams' wait for the first title as a mother ended at the 2020 Auckland Open, where she defeated fellow American Jessica Pegula, 6-3, 6-4 in the final. This was Williams' 73rd and last title as a professional.
At the time, the 23-time Grand Slam champion expressed her relief after winning a WTA title after such a long time (two years since the 2017 Australian Open).
“It feels good. It’s been a long time. I’ve been waiting two years for this moment. I think you could see the relief on my face,” Williams said.
Serena Williams played her final match on the WTA Tour at the 2022 US Open, where she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomjlanovic. She is now expecting the birth of her second child with husband Alexis Ohanian.