Posted on 05/29/2018 7:15:36 AM PDT by EdnaMode
Serena Williams was the No. 1 tennis player in the world in January of last year. She had just beaten big sister Venus to win the Australian Open for a seventh time. Oh, and she did it while being 8 weeks pregnant.
It was an incredible feat. Yet, Serena's pregnancy, which obviously kept her off the professional tennis circuit for months, is now the reason she has fallen to No. 453 in the world. She is making her comeback grand slam debut at this month's French Open in Paris. But, because her maternity leave prevented her from competing for awhile, she failed to receive a seeded ranking at the tournament, meaning she'd have to play much more difficult opponents. The old rule allowed players on maternity leave to return to the tour with the same ranking, but grumblings led to a change in policy, Williams recently explained on "The View." She suggested the policy was penalizing mothers for wanting to start a family, but she accepted it, noting that it simply meant she would have to practice and train more.
"You have to be ready to play the best the first day," she said.
She added that "hopefully" the next time a player needs to take maternity leave they don't have to start so low in the rankings.
First daughter Ivanka Trump spoke up on the tennis star's behalf last week, calling the policy "ridiculous."
Ivanka Trump ✔ @IvankaTrump This is ridiculous. @SerenaWilliams is a formidable athlete (best ever!) and loving new mother. No person should ever be penalized professionally for having a child! The #WTA should change this rule immediately. #FrenchOpen.http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/23563755/serena-williams-return-french-open-unseeded-player … 1:31 PM - May 24, 2018
To anyone who's been paying attention to Ivanka's schedule, it was no surprise she spoke up for the tennis star. Since her dad became president, she has pursued policies that protect the family structure, including paid family leave.
Ivanka Trump ✔ @IvankaTrump #PaidFamilyLeave is not a nationally mandated benefit in the US. 46 states leave the decision up to employers. However, only 15% of workers have access to #PaidFamilyLeave at their workplaces. We need a national #PaidLeave policy to ensure #FamilyBenefits for all in our country! 1:00 PM - May 25, 2018 · Washington, DC
Maybe Serena should have stayed home from the royal wedding and practiced instead.
Oh, good grief. She didn’t rank because she had no wins. No play, no wins. Ivanka needs to stick to raising her kids getting her clothing business back up. Nothing else.
This isn’t a performance failure, it is a deliberate suspension of activity to birth a child. Dropping her to 453 is ridiculous.
Modify the rule to account for pregnancy, suspend the ranking to they reappear at the same rank upon resumption of play, if they lose to lower ranking players, then drop the ranking.
There are enough disincentives to having children in the modern world as it is, don’t create another one.
Also, Serena was a critic of Maria Sharapova even GETTING a Wild Card into the US Open. Shoe’s on the other foot now isn’t it? All Sharapova did was take out Simona Halep with her wild card ;)
Actually watching Serena play right now. She does NOT look nearly as pumped up and I’m not talking weight. Seems her delts aren’t nearly defined, looks to have lost weight also. The USTA has allowed Serena to skate for years for drug testing (she is a Jehoviah Witness, no no on blood draws), especially after her drama when a USTA official came to her home for a blood/urine test which is normal routine. Serena ran to her safe room and isolated, seemed she thought it was a robbery attempt.
Great player but definitely an enhanced player.
You hit the nail on the head. I believe the French seeds 32 players. Those 32 should be worried because they normally would not play another seed until the round of 32. Those 32 are the ones in jeopardy not Serena Williams.
Want to change the ranking.... win.
Pretty simple.
Doesn't "much more difficult opponents" mean more talented? I mean, I'm no tennis expert, so I don't know all the terminology.
“No person should ever be penalized professionally for having a child!”
Meh, you wanted equality, you got it. Men can’t choose to take nine months off work and not be penalized professionally.
I’m guessing she had to lay off those during pregnancy, at least I would hope so.
” but grumblings led to a change in policy, “
Grumblings? By who? Would have to be other FEMALE players, right?
...
LAP
Lesbians Against Pregnancy
That's exactly what I was thinking. Also, the concept of a higher ranking's resulting in less-skilled opponents is rather strange.
Serena will have to play higher ranked opponents in the earlier rounds until her ranking goes back up.
And she’ll probably need to play more tournaments than she usually does to get her ranking up.
Kim Clijsters was basically unranked when she started a comeback in 2009 after being out since 2007. By 2010, she worked her way back to #3.
Ivanka is kinda a center-left NYC bubble dumb ass. Sports is a pure meritocracy. She wants special consideration for excuses.
Sorry Ivanka, this is a ridiculous statement oblivious to the fact that we're talking about world class athletes in the midst of their careers.
The bottom line with these "brackets" is that she will eventually play the top seeds, why not get it over early.
This isn’t a performance failure, it is a deliberate suspension of activity to birth a child. Dropping her to 453 is ridiculous.
Modify the rule to account for pregnancy, suspend the ranking to they reappear at the same rank upon resumption of play, if they lose to lower ranking players, then drop the ranking.
There are enough disincentives to having children in the modern world as it is, don’t create another one.
I agree with your assessment.
Duhhhhhhhhhhh... having a baby affects your life.
Who’da thunk it?
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