Belinda Bencic: New WTA paid maternity leave program is 'absolutely amazing'

New mom Belinda Bencic is back like she never left in 2025, and the 27-year-old's resurgence has continued this week at the BNP Paribas Open. The former world No. 4, who gave birth to her first child, daughter Bella, last year, is through to the third round after wins over another one of the WTA's traveling moms, Tatjana Maria, and a three-set thriller against No. 17 seed Amanda Anisimova, to mark her deepest run in the California desert since she reached the semifinals in 2019.

While Bencic has made her comeback from maternity leave look easy, posting a 15-4 record in 2025 with a title at the WTA 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, she says that her success has come quicker than expected. That's why the Swiss says that the comprehensive, paid maternity leave program announced by the WTA last week is "absolutely amazing."

The new player-led program, advocated for by former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, among others, launched in partnership with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, will provide pregnant players with 12 months of paid maternity leave, and two months paid leave for players whose partners give birth, or who become parents by adoption or surrogate. It also provides grants for fertility treatments, including egg freezing and IVF. In a press release, the WTA hailed the program as "the first time in women's sports history that comprehensive maternity benefits are available to independent, self-employed athletes."

Read more: WTA players are now eligible for paid maternity leave funded by Saudi Arabia's PIF

Bencic, who said that she and partner Martin Hromkovic together made the decision to have a child while she was still an active player, agrees.

"It give the opportunity to all the players to not have to choose, to wait until they finish their career [to give birth], and especially for lower-ranked players that really can't afford to take a year and a half off ... it makes the decision for many players much easier," Bencic told Prakash Amritraj and Steve Weismann on the Tennis Channel desk in Indian Wells.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist added that she hoped tennis can, once again, be a trailblazer in the name of gender equality, having already done so in the arena of prize money at the four Grand Slam tournaments. More than 300 players are currently eligible for the program, according to the tour.

"I hope we can lead in that way, and pave the way for other sports, where the athletes have the same kind of dilemma, problem, of trying to have a family and finishing their careers," Bencic added.

Read more: Petra Kvitova shows potential in maternity leave comeback

WTA CEO Portia Archer echoed Bencic's comments by saying in a statement that "this initiative will provide the current and next generation of players the support and flexibility to explore family life, in whatever form they choose.”