選手に有給で「最大１２か月」の産休 ＷＴＡがサウジと共同基金設立

【インディアンウェルズ（米国）ＡＦＰ＝時事】女子テニス協会（ＷＴＡ）は６日、サウジアラビアの政府系基金パブリック・インベストメント・ファンド（ＰＩＦ）との共同イニシアチブとして、選手に有給で「最大１２か月間」の出産休暇を与える「ＰＩＦ ＷＴＡマタニティ基金プログラム」の設立を発表した。（写真は、全米オープンテニスの女子シングルスで優勝し、娘を抱いて喜ぶキム・クライシュテルス）
　このプログラムでは「３２０人以上の選手に利益を提供する」とし、「選手は有給での産休を最大１２か月まで取ることができ、家庭を築くための不妊治療の助成金やその他の福利厚生も利用できる」とされている。
　これらの支払いを受け取る条件として、選手は「一定期間内に一定数のＷＴＡトーナメントに出場すること」が義務づけられる。
　東京五輪の金メダリストで、昨年４月に第１子の娘ベラちゃんを出産して先月ツアー復帰を果たしたばかりのベリンダ・ベンチッチ（スイス）は、この画期的な制度について「本当に最高のニュース」だと歓迎。「ＷＴＡが女子競技で初めてこのような取り組みを行うことは、選手として非常に誇りに思う」とし、「家庭を築いて復帰を考えているすべての人にとって素晴らしいこと。特に、１年半も離脱して復帰するまでの間にどうにか生計を立てなければならない、ランキングの低い選手にとっては重要だ」と語った。
　四大大会（グランドスラム）で優勝２回を誇るビクトリア・アザレンカも、ＷＴＡの選手評議会メンバーとして、「これはテニス界における女性支援の方法として意味のある変化の始まりであり、アスリートがキャリアと家庭を両立する夢を追求しやすくする」と歓迎した。
　女子ツアーでは多くのトップ選手が出産のためにキャリアを中断し、その後のキャリアにもさまざまな影響を受けている。ＷＴＡによると、母親としてプレーしている現役選手は２５人となっている。
　キム・クライシュテルス（ベルギー）は２００８年に娘を出産した後、２００９年と２０１０年の全米オープンと２０１１年の全豪オープンを制して計三つのメジャータイトルを獲得し、母親としてグランドスラム制覇を成し遂げたオーストラリア勢のマーガレット・コートやイボンヌ・グーラゴング・コーリーグの足跡をたどった。
　一方、通算２３度のグランドスラム制覇を誇るセレーナ・ウィリアムス（米国）は、２０１７年９月に第１子を出産した後、ウィンブルドン選手権と全米オープンで計４回の決勝進出を果たしたものの、優勝はできなかった。
　元世界ランキング１位でグランドスラム４勝の大坂なおみは、女児を出産して２０２４年はじめにコートに復帰して以降、今年１月に行われたＡＳＢクラシックでの決勝進出が最高成績となっている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/03/07-18:04）

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to finance a joint initiative with the WTA for paid maternity leave of up to 12 months for players on the women's tennis circuit, it was announced on Thursday.
The PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program will offer benefits to more than 320 eligible WTA players, the Women's Tennis Association said in a statement.
WTA players will for the first time receive paid maternity leave up to 12 months, and have access to grants for fertility treatments to build families, as well as other benefits, it read.
Players will have to compete in a certain number of WTA tournaments in a window of time to benefit from the payments.
Belinda Bencic, who won Olympic gold for Switzerland in Tokyo and has returned to the WTA tour after having daughter Bella last April, welcomed the development.
Absolutely it's the best news really, Bencic said after cruising past Germany's Tatjana Maria in the first round at Indian Wells in California.
I think we are very proud as players for the WTA (to be) the first sport in female sports to make this.
It's great for everyone who is considering to have a family and come back, especially also the lower-ranked players that have to survive somehow when they are not playing for a year and a half and then trying to come back,
Bencic, who earned her first title since returning from her leave in Abu Dhabi in February, noted that her Thursday opponent Maria was a mother of two.
I'm really feeling like there are so many moms now on the tour, so we're trying to show everyone it's possible to have a baby and play professional tennis, she said.
- Support and flexibility -
Two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka, a WTA players' council representative, welcomed the beginning of a meaningful shift in how we support women in tennis, making it easier for athletes to pursue both their careers and their aspirations of starting a family.
Ensuring that programs like this exist has been a personal mission of mine, the Belarusian former world number one, who gave birth to a son in 2016, was quoted in the statement as saying.
For WTA CEO Portia Archer this initiative will provide the current and next generation of players the support and flexibility to explore family life, in whatever form they choose.
Several top players have taken a break from their careers to give birth, with varying degrees of impact on their subsequent careers. The WTA says 25 active players are mothers.
Belgian Kim Clijsters won three majors -- the US Open in 2009 and 2010 and the Australian Open in 2011 -- after giving birth to her daughter in 2008, following in the footsteps of Australians Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong, who triumphed at Grand Slams as mothers.
However, 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams did not win any after the birth of her first child in September 2017, even though the American reached four finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Four-time Grand Slam winner and former world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan returned to the courts in early 2024 after giving birth to a daughter.
Since then, the 27-year-old's best result has been a final at the modest Auckland tournament in January.
Criticised by some tennis figures for its record on women's rights, Saudi Arabia has boosted its tennis investments in recent years, organising the season-ending WTA Finals for the first time in Riyadh last November.
That came months after the WTA entered into a multi-year partnership with the PIF sovereign wealth fund, with the kingdom again set to host the WTA Finals in 2025 and 2026.