'They deserve more time': Caroline Wozniacki's emotional plea to the WTA

Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki has made an emotional plea to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to provide more support for mothers returning to the tour. 

The former world number one returned to the game last year after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus from the sport to focus on being a mother.

She is one of a few high-profile players in the game to take considerable time out from the court, but unlike Naomi Osaka or Angelique Kerber, Wozniacki does not have a protected ranking and has been relying on wildcards to enter the big tournaments.

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While she has been able to pick up a number of these, she was turned down from the Italian and French Open in May, a move that led her father and coach Piotr Wozniacki to call out the WTA in the press for the lack of support and respect given to his daughter, as reported by Sportskeeda. 

While Caroline has downplayed this, she does think more needs to be done to help mothers get back into the sport. "I think I've been treated very well," she told the PA News Agency. "The tournaments have really embraced me coming back and with kids," she said. 

"Where I do share my view, and where a lot of other women on tour share the view, is I think there should be more done for women coming back from maternity leave. It has been looked at because obviously there are more players now that want to come back but, at the same time, it's not the same as coming back from an injury," she said.

"As someone who came back after almost four years, I think when you give birth and for the body to recover, you've grown a human inside you, there's a lot of changes that are happening in the body after that. I think in general women deserve more time to feel, 'OK, now I'm ready, I can really prepare and get ready for competing at the highest level'."

The good news for Wozniacki is she has just been awarded a wildcard spot at this year’s Wimbledon, taking place next month, alongside Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu.

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Osaka and Wozniacki, both former number ones, will both play in the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time in five years after becoming mothers.

Wimbledon holds a special place in Wozniacki’s heart after winning the Junior Wimbledon back in 2005. "There’s something so special about playing on Wimbledon’s Centre Court that you can’t replicate anywhere else," she said, as reported by PA.

It will also be the first time the Dane will be able to experience it with her children, as three-year-old Olivia and one-year-old James, travel with her on the tour.

"It's just so special and something I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do," she told PA. "It's very hard as well because it's like having two full-time jobs. It's definitely exhausting, but it's definitely worth it."

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