Does Serena need to be seeded?
By Christopher Clarey
As ever, Serena Williams is a conversation starter. She has generated debate inside and outside of tennis since she took her first swings on the pro tour at age 14 at a time when the WTA banned 14-year-olds from its main circuit.
Now that she has become one of her sport’s greatest champions and a new mother, Williams, 36, continues to set the agenda.
Despite her Open-era record of 23 major singles titles, she is unseeded at the French Open, where she beat Kristyna Pliskova 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 on Tuesday in her first match at a Grand Slam tournament in 16 months. Williams also was unseeded at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open, the only other tournaments she has played in this start-and-stop comeback in 2018 in which her singles record is 2-2.
When other leading players returned from maternity leave, including Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka, there was no uproar when they were not among the seeds. But Williams is not just any leading player, and the women’s tour, in the midst of an extensive review of its policies, is now being pressured to change its rules.
Some change seems all but certain. It seems likely that players coming back from pregnancy in the future will be able to return with a protected ranking after a longer period than the current two years, and they may be allowed to use that special ranking in more tournaments than the current eight.
But change on the seeding issue is far from certain. The issue is thornier than it might first appear, and reaching consensus is hardly straightforward. “It’s complex because it’s not your normal work environment,” Steve Simon, chief executive of the WTA Tour, said.
“You’re dealing with independent contractors, and by the nature of competition you are not guaranteed anything. But yet there is a feeling you should’ve some rights, and I think our rules do address a lot of that. It really is just one element of the rule, to be honest, which is in discussion. That’s the use of the special ranking for seeding.”
Williams, like all WTA players returning from maternity leave, has a protected ranking that she can use to enter eight tournaments in a 12-month period. Williams was No. 1 before she took her break from the game in February 2017. She and some of her leading rivals, including current No. 1 Simona Halep, have argued that there should also be protected seedings, both to avoid unbalanced draws and to not dissuade players from having children earlier in their careers.
“You shouldn’t have to stop altogether just because you want to have a baby young,” Williams said in a recent interview. “You don’t want to be my age having your first baby, you know what I mean? So I think as a woman you should’ve that choice to get pregnant and have a baby and still be able to have a career like in any other job.”
Do you need protected seeding to achieve that in tennis? “I think you do,” Williams said, before referring to Azarenka, a 28-year-old former No. 1 player, who also recently returned to the circuit after childbirth. But other players who’ve recently returned from pregnancy don’t see it as starting from scratch and are concerned about those who’d be penalized by guaranteeing returning mothers a seeding.
Mandy Minella, a 32-year-old from Luxembourg, just made it into the main draw of this French Open with a special ranking of 104 after giving birth to her daughter, Emma, in October. Like Azarenka, whose special ranking is No. 6, Minella lost in the first round on Monday. “When you come back you shouldn’t be seeded because you’ve players who work all year and play good all year to earn the seeding spots.
In a Grand Slam, if you would put in this case Serena as the first seed, the No. 32 is pushed out,” Minella said. Minella still wants change: She thinks returning mothers should be able to use a special ranking for at least 12 tournaments, not eight.
But in Minella’s view, she and Williams do have access to the workplace: a spot in the main draw. They just don’t deserve automatic access to a privileged position in that workplace, much as a WNBA player returning from pregnancy is not guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup. “We want to have Serena Williams,” Minella said.
“She’s important for tennis, and she can be in any tournament. I think if she’s fit enough, she’ll come back to where she belongs, right? But she’s to prove herself again after practicing. In sport, you’ve to prove yourself over and over again.”
As ever, Serena Williams is a conversation starter. She has generated debate inside and outside of tennis since she took her first swings on the pro tour at age 14 at a time when the WTA banned 14-year-olds from its main circuit.
Now that she has become one of her sport’s greatest champions and a new mother, Williams, 36, continues to set the agenda.
Despite her Open-era record of 23 major singles titles, she is unseeded at the French Open, where she beat Kristyna Pliskova 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 on Tuesday in her first match at a Grand Slam tournament in 16 months. Williams also was unseeded at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open, the only other tournaments she has played in this start-and-stop comeback in 2018 in which her singles record is 2-2.
When other leading players returned from maternity leave, including Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka, there was no uproar when they were not among the seeds. But Williams is not just any leading player, and the women’s tour, in the midst of an extensive review of its policies, is now being pressured to change its rules.
Some change seems all but certain. It seems likely that players coming back from pregnancy in the future will be able to return with a protected ranking after a longer period than the current two years, and they may be allowed to use that special ranking in more tournaments than the current eight.
But change on the seeding issue is far from certain. The issue is thornier than it might first appear, and reaching consensus is hardly straightforward. “It’s complex because it’s not your normal work environment,” Steve Simon, chief executive of the WTA Tour, said.
“You’re dealing with independent contractors, and by the nature of competition you are not guaranteed anything. But yet there is a feeling you should’ve some rights, and I think our rules do address a lot of that. It really is just one element of the rule, to be honest, which is in discussion. That’s the use of the special ranking for seeding.”
Williams, like all WTA players returning from maternity leave, has a protected ranking that she can use to enter eight tournaments in a 12-month period. Williams was No. 1 before she took her break from the game in February 2017. She and some of her leading rivals, including current No. 1 Simona Halep, have argued that there should also be protected seedings, both to avoid unbalanced draws and to not dissuade players from having children earlier in their careers.
“You shouldn’t have to stop altogether just because you want to have a baby young,” Williams said in a recent interview. “You don’t want to be my age having your first baby, you know what I mean? So I think as a woman you should’ve that choice to get pregnant and have a baby and still be able to have a career like in any other job.”
Do you need protected seeding to achieve that in tennis? “I think you do,” Williams said, before referring to Azarenka, a 28-year-old former No. 1 player, who also recently returned to the circuit after childbirth. But other players who’ve recently returned from pregnancy don’t see it as starting from scratch and are concerned about those who’d be penalized by guaranteeing returning mothers a seeding.
Mandy Minella, a 32-year-old from Luxembourg, just made it into the main draw of this French Open with a special ranking of 104 after giving birth to her daughter, Emma, in October. Like Azarenka, whose special ranking is No. 6, Minella lost in the first round on Monday. “When you come back you shouldn’t be seeded because you’ve players who work all year and play good all year to earn the seeding spots.
In a Grand Slam, if you would put in this case Serena as the first seed, the No. 32 is pushed out,” Minella said. Minella still wants change: She thinks returning mothers should be able to use a special ranking for at least 12 tournaments, not eight.
But in Minella’s view, she and Williams do have access to the workplace: a spot in the main draw. They just don’t deserve automatic access to a privileged position in that workplace, much as a WNBA player returning from pregnancy is not guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup. “We want to have Serena Williams,” Minella said.
“She’s important for tennis, and she can be in any tournament. I think if she’s fit enough, she’ll come back to where she belongs, right? But she’s to prove herself again after practicing. In sport, you’ve to prove yourself over and over again.”