Victoria Azarenka, like Clijsters a former No. 1, had won two Australian Opens before giving birth to her son, Leo, in 2016. She returned to tennis in 2017 and in 2020 was part of the historic trio of moms to make the US Open quarterfinals with Serena Williams and Tsvetana Pironkova.

Azarenka, reached by phone in between her son’s hockey practices, is part of the WTA taskforce to empower mothers on tour. She also continues to win on the court. The three-time Miami Open champion on Tuesday advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-3 win over Yulia Putintseva. At 34, Azarenka is the second-oldest semifinalist in Miami Open history behind Venus Williams (36).

She is happy to see the progress being made, but believes a lot more needs to be done.

“The shocking revelation for me when I was pregnant was that we didn’t even have a category in the rules that separated long term injury from pregnancy,” Azarenka said. “Then Serena got pregnant, it was big news, and we were breaking the stereotype that you had to pick motherhood or tennis. It’s quite evident how much has changed, how many mothers are on tour in a small period of time.”

Azarenka would like more sponsors to invest in the WTA’s motherhood initiatives. She wants to create financial support for women who want to take a maternity break, especially lower-ranked players.

“Not everybody is as fortunate as I was, as Serena was, as Naomi is in terms of financial situation in terms of coming back and having help when you travel with your kids so you can continue to train,” she said. “Our bodies are our money makers, this is our job, and you have to be in top physical shape and it takes a while to come back after you have a baby.

“When there’s a will there’s a way, and that’s my goal is to push those issues and make things better for tennis mothers in the future.”

Moms on WTA Tour

Magraita Betova

Kateryna Volodko

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