‘An Absolute Joke’- Andre Agassi’s Long-Time Coach Voiced Out Disagreement With Chris Evert Over Serena Williams’ Ranking Controversy in 2018

Serena Williams in her 27-year-long career inspired many with her game. While there are a lot of tennis lessons to learn from the American, she taught us a few life lessons too. The legend raced to her 23rd Grand Slam title without dropping a set when she was pregnant.

After completing her maternity leave, Serena returned to the tour in 2018. When she left, she was number 1 in the world. However, as per the WTA rule, she lost her rank because of prolonged inactivity. Many fans and previous players were not happy with the rule of not letting a player retain her rank after maternity leave. Chris Evert and Brad Gilbert also had a difference of opinion on this. Here’s what happened.

Brad Gilbert questioned WTA’s maternity leave rule

Andre Agassi’s long-time coach Gilbert was clearly not happy with the way Serena lost her seed in the US Open 2018. The former American tennis star believed it was unfair to the players to lose their ranking during the pregnancy period. Here’s what he said. “I blame the WTA. I think it’s an absolute joke what they’ve done, and they should be embarrassed that they don’t have anything — injuries are different from somebody coming off of maternity leave. I think that she should have come back after her absence with the protected ranking of No. 1.’’

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Evert earlier argued that maternity leave is the same as an injury break. Replying to this, Gilbert further added, “I hate to disagree with you, Chrissie, but I honestly don’t think it’s the same as being injured. I felt like she should have come back for eight tournaments with a protected ranking and seeded ranking of No. 1, not just Serena, whoever. Whenever you come back after maternity leave, if you were 8, you should be 8.’’

Serena Williams’ debate sparked a change in the rule

As it happened with a legend like Serena Williams, the talk of the maternity rule was all over the internet. Surprisingly, the WTA rule used to treat maternity leave in a similar bracket to that of injury leave. However, the debate over Serena’s ranking sparked a rule change from WTA’s end.

The new rule gives more flexibility and rating protection to the players returning from maternity leave. As per the new rule, a player has up to three years after the birth of her child to be eligible for a special ranking to gain entry into tournaments. Further, they can use the ranking in 12 upcoming tournaments after their return.

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The rule change provides new mothers with ample time to recover and regain the fitness to return on the tour. It also helps them with the ranking ladder which they had to climb all the way up after childbirth.