By Mike McIntyre
Photos: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
The WTA Tour couldn't have asked for two greater representatives of female strength to face one another on International Women's Day than Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. What they've endured since becoming mothers on its own would qualify them as the two premiere examples of perseverance for continuing to play tennis at such a high level. Both are seeking their first post-maternity leave Grand Slam titles but in neither case would it be shocking if that ended up happening at some point down the road. But there's more to their story than simply their impressive return to the game after becoming parents. Serena and Vika (they both are recognizable with merely a first name mention) have pushed through so much adversity in order to return to playing highly competitive tennis and that to me is why they are the ultimate faces on the WTA Tour of female empowerment. Simply put, for young girls looking for role models in professional sport - or life in general - you don't need to look any further than the two competitors in Friday night's second round match-up in Indian Wells.
While their Grand Slam haul's differ greatly - Vika with two and Serena with an incomprehensible 23 - the two are both considered among the toughest competitors and champions on the WTA of this generation. With Serena, there is nobody from this generation of female tennis players that comes even close to touching what she has accomplished (not to mention how her triumphs outshine even the closest of male counterparts) and she towers above any current players. Only her sister Venus, among active players, is even remotely close to double digit Slams with seven to her name. Serena stands a mere one Grand Slam triumph away from tying Margaret Court for the all-time record, though she has clearly played in the more challenging of Era's.
For her part, Vika's accomplishments are not to be glossed-over. In addition to her two Australian Open titles she can also take pride in the eighteen other tournament victories earned as well as the fact she was World No. 1 back in 2012 and enjoyed 51 weeks in the role. Twice she made the finals of the US Open, and has also shown her multi surface capabilities with a semifinal showing once at Roland Garros and twice at Wimbledon as well. If Serena can still be top ten material at age 37, then Vika at 29 clearly has many solid years also left to add to her career accomplishments.
The pair met for the 22nd time Friday night in what could be seen as an unlikely Indian Wells encounter last night given all the two have been through. It would have been understandable if both had chosen to retire from the sport rather than fight so hard to return. While Serena won Friday's match 7-5, 6-4 it was clear as the two embraced at the net afterwards that it was a win for both of them on many levels. There are numerous reasons why their shared presence on a tennis court in 2019 is such an improbable occurrence when you think about it. Serena and Vika are warriors more so for that they have endured and conquered off the tennis court than on it.
Becoming a parent is a daunting task for anyone - female or male. Many Dad's (myself included) do our everything we possibly can to raise our children in the best possible manner and yet none of us can claim to have gone through the same or even similar circumstances to what the mothers of our kids have to do. The physical changes and hardships that women go through for 9 months and then the recovery they require after child birth is without a doubt one of the most incredible challenges in life that I can think of. I watched my wife carry three of our kids - twins the second time around in fact - and will forever be in awe of the way she got through it. Even under ideal conditions and with healthy babies, the entire process is a grueling one. For Serena and Vika, becoming mothers brought extra challenges that neither likely ever anticipated.
On September 1, 2017 (less than eight months after wining the Australian Open while pregnant) Serena Wiliams gave birth to her first child. Serena's post-delivery challenges are well documented. She literally faced a life and death scenario as she was forced to deal with a pulmonary embolism that left her with breathing complications that required immediate and emergency intervention. As if that wasn't enough, she also had to deal with a large hematoma that doctors found in her abdomen and would be forced to spend six weeks bedridden after giving birth.
Remarkably less than three months later Serena was back on a tennis court playing an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi against Jelena Ostapenko. While her early return would tell the American legend that her body needed more time before returning to regular competition, it wasn't long before she was back contending for Major titles. While in many professions women are able to count on their job status being protected while on maternity leave, the WTA Tour offers no such guarantee. While Serena could expect a protected ranking that would allow her entry to the tournaments she wanted to play, her seeding in those events was another story. Serena - and any returning mother for that matter - would be unseeded and at the mercy of the draw. Despite having to deal with this new reality in her first few events back, Serena quickly found herself once again competing for the biggest titles in tennis. The flexibility afforded at Wimbledon found her seeded 25th - which truthfully seems somewhat insulting to a 7 time champion - and she worked her way into the finals where she eventually fell to Angelique Kerber. In September, Serena made it back-to-back Slam finals with a run to the title match in New York at the US Open against Naomi Osaka. Despite the way that match transpired, it was obvious how much it meant to Serena to be back competing at the highest level less than a year after her tumultuous childbirth experience.
Victoria Azarenka's post child delivery challenges differ from Serena Williams' but they also affected her ability to return to the WTA Tour in a very trying manner. Vika gave birth at the end of 2016 but would see her planned return to the WTA hampered due to child custody issues with the father of her child who she had an estranged relationship from. Though she was ready to return to her tennis career, neither parent was allowed to travel outside of the state of California until a solution had been reached. Unwilling to be apart from her infant son, Vika put her career on hold until something could be worked out. She only played two events in 2017 and then played Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back in 2018 (and remarkably made the semis in Miami) before being finally able to travel abroad to Madrid in the Spring of that year. Prioritizing her son's needs and her desire to be with him over her own understandable personal ambition to return to work while still in the prime of her career was as noble as they come and while the comeback has not been as immediately successful as Serena's, it is great to have Vika back in the mix and back into the top 50 on the WTA Tour.
The significance of the match against Serena was not lost on Vika who said the following about her opponent and friend the day before the match, "She is one of the reasons why I still play. She inspires me. Gonna be a special match because it's the first since we both became moms."
Serena also acknowledged their common bond after the victory saying, "She's a very good friend. I would say we're pretty close. We're both moms, and we know how hard it is and how hard it's been for us to come back, you know, and starting literally from scratch and fighting our way back. It's been an arduous road, and I think we both really appreciate both of our efforts to do the best that we can do."
Their efforts are most certainly appreciated and deserving of our recognition. Both Serena and Vika are exceptional tennis players, women and mothers. The Tour is stronger for having them back on the court and young women starting out their professional careers will be able to draw much inspiration and knowledge learning from their example. You couldn't have scripted a better duo to play one another on International Women's Day and - as has been the case at so many moments during their careers - they didn't disappoint.
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