Opinion
Naomi Osaka announced today that she is pregnant. The 25-year-old broke the news on social media early this morning, revealing a sonogram with the caption, “Can’t wait to get back on the court, but here’s a little life update for 2023”.
Osaka withdrew her name from the Australian Open just over a week before the event commenced. After winning the Open in 2019 and again in 2021, her performance at this year’s tournament was highly anticipated. Her withdrawal was met with great disappointment, as she was the second big name to pull out from the women’s draw after Venus Williams announced her withdrawal due to injury around the same time.
Women’s tennis has seen an interesting trend in the last few years, with some of its highest profile players choosing to prioritise family over their sporting careers.
Former world No. 1 and three-time grand slam winner Ash Barty shocked the tennis world last March by announcing her retirement at just 25 years of age.
She said in her announcement, “I know that the time is right now for me to step away and chase other dreams,” citing in later interviews that she intended to start a family. A few days ago she revealed she is expecting her first child.
Last August, Serena Williams penned an op-ed for Vogue magazine explaining that her desire to have a second child and spend more time with her first were the main reasons for leaving tennis.
“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family,” she wrote. “A lot of people don’t realise that I was two months pregnant when I won the Australian Open in 2017. But I’m turning 41 this month, and something’s got to give.”
Osaka’s announcement is a reminder that women face a difficult choice. Both a career as a professional tennis player as well as the time window in which a woman can comfortably give birth and start a family are capped and happen to coincide. As Williams pointed out, the competing physical needs of trying to fulfil both are unique to women. Men do not bear the brunt of the choice in the same way.
In December last year Nick Kyrgios expressed his anger at being snubbed for the Newcombe Medal, which was awarded to Ash Barty. Kyrgios listed his 61 match wins for the year against Barty’s 14. Kyrgios is thought to have played his best year of tennis in 2022, whereas Barty only played three months of the year in total.
Kyrgios has admitted to suffering from the long absences from home and family due to being on tour and playing professionally, saying that having a successful tennis career does indeed come at the cost of family life and general wellbeing.
Ash Barty not only seems to share the 27-year-old Kyrgios’s sentiments on the difficulty of that choice but probably recognised it much earlier. Kyrgios may have lost out on the Newcombe Medal, but Barty’s decision to prioritise her family has cost her an entire career.
The disparity between male and female tennis players is something to keep in mind.
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