"Women deserve more time" - Caroline Wozniacki urges WTA to do more to help players coming back from maternity leave
Caroline Wozniacki has urged the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) to do more for the sake of mothers who want to resume their careers after their maternity leaves. The former World No. 1 is herself a mother of two, having given birth to daughter Olivia in June 2021 and son James in October 2022.
Towards the end of 2019, Wozniacki announced that she would call time on her career following her 2020 Australian Open campaign, and she did. However, she later announced that she would be making her tennis comeback in June 2023. The 2018 Australian Open champion returned to action at the 2023 National Bank Open in Montreal and has been active since then.
Recently, the Dane told PA that she has "been treated very well" by the WTA since her comeback. However, Wozniacki went on to say that more needs to be done for women making their respective returns to tennis from maternity leave.
"I think I’ve been treated very well, The tournaments have really embraced me coming back and with kids. Where I do share my view, and where a lot of other women on tour share the view, is I think there should be more done for women coming back from maternity leave," Wozniacki said.
The former World No. 1 also said that after motherhood, women need more time to feel that they are prepared to play and compete at the highest level. She cited her own example to drive home her point.
"It has been looked at because obviously there’s more players now that want to come back but, at the same time, it’s not the same as coming back from an injury. As someone who came back after almost four years, I think when you give birth and for the body to recover, you’ve grown a human inside you, there’s a lot of changes that are happening in the body after that. I think in general women deserve more time to feel, ‘OK, now I’m ready, I can really prepare and get ready for competing at the highest level’," Wozniacki added.
"After two kids, it's even harder to feel 100 percent as a top athlete" - Caroline Wozniacki
Earlier this year at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Wozniacki opened up about the difficulties of women athletes to get back to their best following pregnancy and subsequent motherhood. The Dane stated that the challenge is even greater for athletes like her, who have experienced pregnancy twice.
"I think my fitness and my physique is definitely better now than it was at the US Open. I think a lot of hard work has been put into it. It's not easy after pregnancy to come back and feel 100 percent as a top athlete, and after two kids, I think it's even harder. I felt that was the case," Wozniacki said at a press conference after her third-round win at Indian Wells.
The former World No. 1 started her 2024 grasscourt campaign at the Birmingham Classic but lost in her first-round encounter at the WTA 250 event to No. 5 seed, Elise Mertens.