WTA: James Blake calls for protection for young mother Serena Williams

Serena Williams will face the winner of Indian Wells, Naomi Osaka, in round one of Miami as an unseeded player. This must not be, says the new tournament director in Florida, James Blake.

Anyone who has been involved in professional tennis for years will remember times when the organisers of the Grand Slam tournaments made their seed lists as they saw fit: at the US Open always to the advantage of the Americans (who suffered around 1996: Thomas Muster, who was made almost impossible to win in Wimbledon, as a result of a setting that did not correspond to the world rankings).

Meanwhile, tablet allocation is based on current chart rankings, even the algorithm introduced in Wimbledon a few years ago, which rates success on grass higher, is accepted without complaint by players. However, the fact that Serena Williams may not be seeded after her 13-month baby break due to the WTA rules (after all, the 23-time major winner currently ranks near 500 in the world rankings) is annoying to many participants.

Simona Halep had already spoken in Indian Wells in this direction, now James Blake followed suit. I believe that the WTA will begin to talk about the way the tournament is set up. And I hope that will happen,” Blake told AFP. If a player leaves the tour because of pregnancy, she must be protected: “Serena has won this title so often, she needs protection.”

The current regulation certainly does not offer that: “It is even a form of punishment. And that’s tough,” continued Blake, who is in charge of the last edition of the traditional tournament on Key Biscayne in his first year as boss, “I hope the WTA will resume talks before it’s too late. Besides Serena decides to have another baby.”