U.S. Open to alter seeding process in wake of Serena’s long absence

Players won’t be penalized for time off because of pregnancies

The U.S. Open will not penalize players whose rankings have tumbled because of pregnancyrelated breaks from the game in awarding seeds for its women’s field, starting with this year’s tournament. But it’s unclear how the U.S. Tennis Association will strike a fair balance between the interests of returning mothers whose rankings have slid and active players who have surged ahead of them in the interim.

The decision in principle, first reported by The New York Times, follows criticism leveled at French Open officials in May for not seeding its three-time champion Serena Williams in her return to competition after giving birth to a daughter in September.

During Williams’ 13-month hiatus from the game, her ranking slid from No. 1 in the world to No. 454. While she was granted a place in the French Open’s 128-player women’s field, the fact that she didn’t receive one of the tournament’s 32 seeds meant that she was at risk of facing one of the top players in the world in her first-round match. Williams advanced to the French Open’s fourth round, nonetheless, but was forced to withdraw just hours before facing former No. 1 Maria Sharapova because of an injured pectoral muscle.

Reached Saturday afternoon, U.S. Open managing director of corporate communications Chris Widmaier confirmed that the tournament would factor in absences for pregnancy and childbirth in issuing its seeds

starting with the upcoming tournament, which gets underway Aug. 27.

The issue of how tennis treats players returning from childbirth has emerged as a source of debate among tournament officials and competitors, particularly in light of the French Open’s decision regarding Williams, 36, who boasts a record 23 Grand Slam singles titles and has dominated the game for the last 15 years. While many feel women shouldn’t be penalized for missing time due to pregnancy, the issue of how to do so without giving them preference over active players who deserve a seed commensurate with their current ranking is tricky. How do tournaments strike a fair balance?

In a telephone interview earlier this week, former touring pro Pam Shriver, who currently works as an analyst for ESPN, predicted the issue will become increasingly commonplace. Not every female player will make the decision to postpone childbirth until after retirement, as did Shriver, former world No. 1 Chris Evert (each a mother of three) and many of their peers in the 1980s and 1990s.

“It’s going to be happening more and more because of the extended lengths of careers,” Shriver said. “There are going to be more moms on tour for the foreseeable future. (Williams) is the most high-profile one.”

Each of the sport’s four majors has the prerogative to seed players as it sees fit to ensure a balanced tournament. Typically, the majors follow the most recent world rankings, although Wimbledon traditionally exercises its privilege to depart from that formula and consider past performance on grass.

Wimbledon, which begins July 2, will announce its seedings Wednesday. Tournament officials have signaled they are likely to award Williams, its seventime champion, one of the 32 seeds despite her current ranking (183rd). Wimbledon has precedence for doing so with several players, Williams among them.

In 2011, tournament officials seeded Williams, its defending champion, seventh despite a ranking of 26th in the world at the time. The slide resulted from a near year-long absence triggered by a freak injury, suffered when she stepped on broken glass and later developed blood clots in her lungs following her 2010 Wimbledon championship.

Current Women’s Tennis Association rules don’t protect the seeds of players whose rankings slid because of missed time — whether because of injury, pregnancy or suspension. The organization is expected to reconsider that policy later this year.

Regardless, the four Grand Slams are not beholden to WTA policies in seeding their fields.

Since returning to competition in March, following a Fed Cup appearance, Williams has played seven singles matches on the pro tour, posting a 5-2 record at tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami and at the French Open.

Former top-five player James Blake, who is now Miami’s tournament director, said this spring that he felt the WTA current policy for seeding players returning from pregnancy was “a kind of punishment.”

Shriver agrees but feels the solution is tricky. While she said she feels strongly that there should be no protection for players who have missed time because of suspensions (as Sharapova did following a positive test for a banned substance), Shriver sees the issue of pregnancy, which is often regarded the same as an injury in workplace policy, as different.