Serena Williams, Seeding and Motherhood: Rewriting Tennis's Return Rules

Timeline

1. Jan 2017Williams wins the Australian Open while pregnant.
2. Sep 1, 2017Williams gives birth; complications follow, including a pulmonary embolism.
3. Mar 2018She returns unseeded at Indian Wells and Miami after a 14-month absence.
4. May 21, 2018The French Open says it will seed by WTA ranking; Williams, ranked 453, is unseeded.
5. Jun 27, 2018Wimbledon seeds Williams 25th while she is ranked 183; she reaches the final.
6. Aug 21, 2018The US Open seeds her 17th, nine places above her ranking.
7. Dec 17, 2018The WTA announces a new special ranking rule allowing seeding for returning players from 2019.
8. Mar 6, 2025The WTA and PIF launch paid maternity leave of up to 12 months for eligible players.

The ethical issues

• Whether merit-based rankings penalize athletes for pregnancy.
• Fairness to players displaced when a returning mother is seeded.
• Inconsistent policies across tours and Grand Slam tournaments.
• Who funds family support in a sport of self-employed athletes.
• Sportswashing concerns when a state fund pays for welfare benefits.

Stakeholders

Stakeholder	Interests & obligations
Returning mothers	A fair path back to competition without starting from scratch.
Players ranked near the seeding cutoff	Keeping seeds they earned through results.
WTA and its Players' Council	Rules that support families while preserving competitive fairness.
Grand Slam tournaments	Control over their own seeding and the best draws.
PIF and sponsors	Visibility and reputation through association with women's sport.
Fans and broadcasters	Competitive draws and star players in later rounds.

The case

In January 2017 Serena Williams won the Australian Open, her 23rd major singles title, while pregnant. She left the tour as world No. 1. Her daughter was born on September 1, 2017, followed by complications that included a pulmonary embolism that made it hard for her to breathe, and multiple surgeries.^[1][3] When she came back in March 2018 after a 14-month absence, she was unseeded at Indian Wells and Miami.^[1][5] By the French Open in May, her ranking had fallen to No. 453. Tennis’s rules let her enter the biggest events, but not protect her from meeting top players in the first round. Over the next seven months, the sport’s governing bodies disagreed about what fairness required, and then rewrote the rules.

Background

Tennis players are self-employed. They earn ranking points by playing, and points drop off after a year. Seeding keeps the highest-ranked players apart in the early rounds, which benefits both them and tournaments that want star matches late in the event. A player who misses a year loses her ranking, and with it her seeding.^[1][4]

The rules and governance

The WTA’s special ranking rule, in place in 2018, let a player freeze her ranking because of injury, illness or pregnancy if she was out for at least six months and returned within three years. She could then use the special ranking to enter eight tournaments within one year, but not to be seeded.^[4] The WTA’s rules govern WTA tournaments, but the four Grand Slams set their own seeding. Williams could enter Roland Garros on her special ranking, but “it’s up to grand slam organisers to give her a seed.”^[1][5]

Three Slams, three answers

Roland Garros. On May 21, 2018, the French Tennis Federation announced that “tournament officials will establish the list and ranking of the women’s seeds based on the WTA ranking.”^[1] Without a seed, a 23-time major champion risked facing top players in early rounds. Some of her rivals objected. “I would like to see that [rule] change,” said Maria Sharapova. “It’s such an incredible effort for a woman to come back from physically, emotionally.”^[1] Williams reached the fourth round but withdrew before a match against Sharapova with a pectoral muscle injury.^[2][3]

Wimbledon. On June 27, 2018, Wimbledon’s seedings committee seeded Williams 25th while she was ranked 183, a discretionary decision. That pushed Dominika Cibulkova, a former world No. 4 who would otherwise have been seeded, out of the top 32. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do,” Cibulkova said, and Britain’s No. 1, Johanna Konta, said Cibulkova’s situation should have been taken into account.^[2] Williams said that the rules “never took into account women that left No 1 due to pregnancy, and left not for an injury, but to have a great life and not give up tennis, but to come back.”^[2] She reached the final, losing to Angelique Kerber.^[3]

US Open. USTA president Katrina Adams said in June that the tournament would “revise the seedings if pregnancy is a factor in the current rankings of a player.” In August the US Open seeded Williams 17th, nine places above her WTA ranking, while all other seeds followed the rankings.^[3]

The WTA’s new rule

On December 17, 2018, the WTA announced a revised special ranking rule for the 2019 season, designed with its Players’ Council and approved by its board.^[4] Under the new rule:

• A player out for more than six months but less than a year can use her special ranking for up to eight tournaments in a year; one out for a year or more can use it for 12.
• A player out because of pregnancy or a medical condition has three years to use her special ranking; for pregnancy, the period runs from the child’s birth. Players away because of adoption, surrogacy or legal guardianship have two years.
• If the special ranking would earn a seed, the player is drawn as an “additional seed” against a non-seed in the first round, and “does not bump an otherwise seeded player.” She can use it for seeding at her first eight WTA tournaments back.
• A player can freeze her ranking up to twice.^[4]

WTA CEO Steve Simon said the changes were “designed to fully support players in their return to competition, while maintaining the highest standards of athletic competition and fairness.”^[5] Victoria Azarenka, a former No. 1 who had returned after the birth of her son and sat on the Players’ Council, called it “a really good first step.” The WTA also confirmed that players could wear leggings or compression shorts without a skirt, after Williams’s French Open catsuit, which she said she wore because of her history of blood clots, drew attention.^[5] The Grand Slams kept control of their own seeding.^[5]

Aftermath: paid maternity leave

By 2025, the WTA said, 50 players had benefited from the special ranking.^[6] On March 6, 2025, the WTA and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) launched paid maternity leave for the first time. More than 320 players became eligible for up to 12 months of paid leave plus grants for fertility treatment, including egg freezing. Every eligible player receives the same undisclosed amount, regardless of ranking, and does not have to repay it if she chooses not to return.^[6][7] WTA CEO Portia Archer said that in “sports where athletes are self-employed, this has never been something that has been provided.”^[6] The program is fully funded by PIF, a WTA global partner. That partnership has drawn criticism from some current and former players because of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.^[7]

The core dilemma

Rankings reward results. Pregnancy takes a player away from results through no failure of performance, and the physical recovery can be long and uncertain. A seed for a returning mother helps her but can cost someone else, as Cibulkova argued. And when family support finally arrives, it is paid for by a state fund whose sponsorship some see as reputation-building. What does fairness require of a sport when an athlete’s absence is caused by having a child, and who should bear the cost?

Competing values

• Merit vs. accommodation: rankings measure recent results; protected rankings recognize reasons for absence.
• Fairness to returners vs. fairness to displaced players: a discretionary seed takes a place from someone who earned it.
• Uniform rules vs. institutional autonomy: each Slam set its own policy, producing three different outcomes.
• Benefit to players vs. the source of funds: paid leave improves lives; its funder raises sportswashing concerns.

Strongest arguments

For protected seeding. Pregnancy is not a performance failure, and treating it like a collapse in form penalizes women for having children. A system that makes champions start from scratch, and face top seeds early, discourages athletes from starting families during their careers.

For strict rankings. Seeds should reflect current form. A player returning after childbirth may not be at her previous level, and players who have been competing all year have earned their positions. Discretionary seeding invites favoritism toward stars.

For the “additional seed” design. The WTA’s solution protects returning players without taking seeds away from anyone, a structural answer to Cibulkova’s objection. It also applies by rule rather than discretion, so it covers lower-ranked players as well as stars.

Applying the frameworks

Justice

A justice lens asks how benefits and burdens are distributed. Behind a veil of ignorance, not knowing whether one would be a returning mother or a player at the seeding cutoff, most people would want a rule that protects both, which is what the additional-seed design attempts. Justice also asks whether rules apply equally: Wimbledon’s discretionary seed helped a superstar, while the WTA’s rule applies to everyone who qualifies.

Care ethics

Care ethics highlights the relationships and dependencies behind the policy: a mother’s recovery, an infant’s needs and the support a player requires to return. From this view, rules built only around injury overlooked the realities of pregnancy and caregiving. Paid leave and the WTA’s health support for new and expecting mothers reflect a more relational idea of what a tour owes its players.

Utilitarian

A utilitarian weighs the consequences for everyone. Protected seeding keeps stars in draws longer, which benefits fans and tournaments, and makes motherhood more compatible with a tennis career. The costs fall on players ranked around the seeding line and, possibly, on the tour’s reputation if its welfare programs are seen as funded to improve a sponsor’s image.

Walk it through: the Simple Decision Model

1. Spot the issue. You chair a Grand Slam seedings committee in June 2018. Stakeholders include Williams, other returning mothers, players near the seeding cutoff, the WTA, broadcasters and fans; less visibly, young players deciding whether a family is compatible with a career. The codes in play are your tournament’s seeding rules and the WTA special ranking rule.
2. Gather facts. What do your rules allow? How long was the player away and why? Who would be displaced? Watch for star bias: would you make the same decision for a lower-ranked mother?
3. Test options. Seed strictly by ranking; give a discretionary seed; or adopt a published policy that adjusts seeds for pregnancy. Weigh consequences, duties to consistency and what each choice says about your tournament.
4. Check codes and law. What do your seeding regulations and any anti-discrimination obligations require? Is there a way to protect the returning player without bumping anyone?
5. Decide and document. Explain the criteria used and apply them to every player in the same situation. Consult players’ representatives and the tours.
6. Communicate and follow up. Announce the policy before the draw, address the displaced player’s concern directly and work with the tours toward one consistent rule.

What’s settled and what’s contested

Settled

• The French Open did not seed Williams in 2018, Wimbledon seeded her 25th while she was ranked 183, and the US Open seeded her 17th while she was ranked 26.
• From 2019 the WTA has allowed returning players to use their special ranking for seeding as an additional seed who bumps no one, with three years from a child’s birth.
• In 2025 the WTA launched up to 12 months of paid maternity leave, funded by PIF.

Contested

• Whether discretionary seeding of a returning star was fair to players who lost seeds.
• Whether the Grand Slams should be bound by a uniform pregnancy rule.
• Whether PIF-funded maternity leave is a welcome benefit, sportswashing, or both.

Why this case matters

Sports rules often assume a male career path with no time out for childbirth. Serena Williams’s return exposed that assumption at the highest level, and the response shows how a rule can be redesigned to protect one group without taking from another. It also shows that who pays for athlete welfare is itself an ethical question that women’s sport must face as it grows.

Key terms

Distributive justice

Fairness in how scarce opportunities, resources, benefits and burdens are shared.

Reasonable accommodation

Adjusting conditions so people can take part, without lowering the standard. Fairness isn’t sameness.

Glass ceiling

Invisible, systemic barriers in hiring and promotion that keep women and minorities out of leadership roles.

Fair play

Integrity put into practice: respecting both the written rules and the spirit of competition.

Sportswashing

Using sport, through events, teams or sponsorship, to improve the reputation of a state or company and distract from wrongdoing.

Stakeholders

Everyone with something at stake in a decision: athletes, coaches, parents, officials, fans, employees, sponsors, media, communities and regulators, including the less visible ones.

Definitions from the Ethics Cases glossary.

Discussion questions

1. Should pregnancy be treated like an injury for ranking purposes, or differently? Why?
2. Was Wimbledon right to seed Williams 25th, given that another player lost her seed as a result?
3. Does the WTA's 'additional seed' rule fully solve the fairness problem? Who still bears a cost?
4. How should players and fans weigh a valuable benefit against concerns about who funds it?

Sources

1. Serena Williams will not be seeded for French Open after maternity leave return — The Guardian (Associated Press)
2. Serena Williams seeded 25th for Wimbledon 2018 — The Guardian
3. Serena Williams seeded 17th at U.S. Open — NBC Sports
4. 2019 WTA Rule Changes: WTA introduces special seeding, shot clock — WTA
5. Following Serena Williams' return, WTA changes rules on ranking after pregnancy and dress code — CNN
6. WTA players to receive maternity pay for first time with grants available for fertility treatment — BBC Sport
7. Women's pro tennis introduces paid maternity leave funded by Saudi sovereign wealth fund — CNBC