Tennis star Serena Williams' decide to come to competition in 2018 can rely on however quickly her body recovers from the biological process this fall and the way exhausting she trains through her maternity, aforementioned researchers WHO study maternity in high-performing athletes.
Williams, 35, on Wed, confirmed her maternity through an interpreter, once posting an image of herself in an exceedingly yellow garment on Snapchat social media with the caption "20 weeks."
The spokeswoman, Kelly Bush Novak, told Reuters that Williams "is definitely not able to play in 2017 and she looks forward to returning in 2018." Williams turns 36 in September this year, on the older side for a top level professional player.
It would be perfectly safe for Williams to continue with rigorous training throughout pregnancy, but how quickly she would return to tournament tennis was uncertain, the researchers said. Williams, who is 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 metres) and weighed 155 pounds (70 kg) according to her tennis association profile, won a 23rd Grand Slam tournament title at the Australian Open in January.
One woman athlete who made a strong comeback after childbirth was English runner Paula Radcliffe. She won the New York marathon in November 2007 six weeks before turning 34 and 10 months after having a child.
Extreme exercise and training during pregnancy remains safe and can contribute to a swift return to pre-pregnancy performance levels provided the delivery goes smoothly, according to a survey of scientific literature by experts on behalf of the International Olympic Committee.
"I've known women who are back to running fast 5Ks in a month because they ran probably up until 36 weeks without much problem," said James Pivarnik, a kinesiology professor at Michigan State University.
Commentators on the Tennis Channel on Wednesday, including former star Tracy Austin, noted that other mothers have come back into the sport. "She's already done so much, does she need more?" Austin asked. "We've seen a lot of great great champions come back after having a child and it really comes down to her motivation."
Predicting how long it will take Williams to recover from a pregnancy depends on several factors, including whether she had an easy or complicated vaginal or Cesarean delivery, whether she breastfeeds and whether her baby sleeps through the night or keeps her up for feedings every few hours.
"Physically, if she has a normal, uneventful birth, the baby is a doll and she is not nursing, she could recover back to normal in about 4 to 6 weeks," said Dr Bruce Young, Silverman Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University Langone Medical Center.
But all of those variables have to line up. "As much as we would like to be able to predict this stuff, the nature of pregnancy is it's going to be different for everyone," said Lauren Streicher, clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
Williams has not vied since January, citing a knee injury. a variety of players stands to learn from Williams' absence for the rest of the year, together with German herb Kerber UN agency last year unseated the yank from the highest of the planet rankings.
Victoria Azarenka of White Russia was one amongst the game's prime threats once she left last year to own her initial kid and therefore the 27-year-old can have one amongst her main obstacles removed once she returns to competition later in 2017.
Five-times sweep winner Maria Sharapova, UN agency returns to competition next week once a 15-month doping ban, might conjointly profit if she rediscovers her prime kind. She has simply 2 wins in twenty-one head-to-head conferences with rival Williams.