Girls gamers who select to endure a fertility safety process shall be allowed to take time away from the game and return to aggressive motion with a protected rating, the governing physique of girls’s tennis (WTA) stated Wednesday.
The brand new rule goals to assist girls athletes with balancing their household objectives and profession ambitions and comes three months after the WTA provided gamers as much as 12 months of paid maternity go away for the primary time.
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“The brand new rule signifies that gamers can now take time away from skilled tennis for a fertility safety process equivalent to egg or embryo freezing and safely return to competitors with a protected rating,” the WTA stated in an announcement.
“Eligible gamers will obtain a Particular Entry Rating (SER), which can be utilized to enter as much as three tournaments, based mostly on the 12-week common of their WTA Rating from eight weeks previous to the beginning of their out-of-competition interval.”
Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, has beforehand known as for egg freezing to be acknowledged as a protected rating exercise and known as Wednesday’s announcement a “groundbreaking” transfer.
“I am extremely pleased with our sport in recognizing the significance of fertility remedies for feminine athletes. For any lady, the dialog of household life versus a profession is nuanced and complicated,” the previous World No. 3 stated.
“The WTA has now created a secure house for gamers to discover choices and to make the perfect selections for themselves.”
The WTA additionally stated gamers will profit from paid maternity go away and grants for fertility safety by the WTA Maternity Fund sponsored by the Saudi Public Funding Fund.
