Women’s Tennis Association Changes Rules To Offer Ranking Protection, Flexible Attire To Returning Mothers

The Women's Tennis Association updated their rules to give mothers more flexibility, after Serena William’s return from pregnancy made them change the tennis rules on spot, reports The New Indian Express.

The WTA rulebook had earlier governed maternity and injury by the same rules. Now, a returning mother will have upto three years after the birth of her child to be eligible for an individual ranking to gain entry into tournaments, compared to the previous limit of two years.

Returning players who were out of competition for 52 weeks or more can also use that particular ranking for 12 tournaments, which went up from eight. A returning player who was ranked in a range that would have earned her a seeding when she left the tour will be given an “additional seed”, at her first eight tournaments. This does not bump any players who earned a seeding from their current rankings as it guarantees the player an unseeded opponent in the first round.

Other majors like Wimbledon and the United States Open, exercised their discretion to change the seedings, which in turn enabled the uber-talented Williams to reach the finals which however made another player to lose her seeding to accommodate the 23-time grand slam champion.

WTA changes include rules about tennis attire, allowing leggings and midthigh-length compression shorts to be worn with or without a skirt, shorts or a dress. This change was due to courtesy of post pregnancy William’s wearing the form-fitting black-and-red suit for health reasons. Other changes include permitting bathroom breaks from two to one and a rule to stop players from retiring from the first round, which is generally used to get prize money.