WTA world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka recently weighed in on the WTA’s new mandatory one-time gene testing policy for all players, which would be a requirement to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and was announced last month.
The WTA updated its women’s eligibility policy to include gender screening “based on biological sex,” with the policy stating that the change is designed “to preserve the integrity of women’s professional tennis and maintain fair competition conditions for all players.”
“I think it’s really important to keep the fairness in our tour, and it’s obvious that biologically, right, the men are way stronger than women,” Sabalenka said when asked about the new policy.
“So I feel like it would be not really fair for the women to compete against biological men. So it’s— I believe it took them a little while to make this decision, and I Yeah, I support it, but for me, I’m focusing on myself, on my goals, you know, whatever it takes. If they want to test us all, I’m happy to do that. It’s pretty fair, and let’s keep it that way.”
Now, one of Sabalenka’s competitors on the WTA, Coco Gauff, is weighing in.
“I understand the reasoning behind it,” Gauff said. “I do think that this kind of conversation has created a lot of animosity towards the trans community, which I’m not really a big fan of, but I also understand the need to [account for] the biological difference and the need to protect that and preserve that. So I think it’s a conversation that is very nuanced.
Coco Gauff on the WTA’s new genetic testing policy:
“I understand the reasoning behind it. I do think that this kind of conversation has created a lot of animosity towards the trans community, which I’m not really a big fan of, but I also understand the need to [account for] the… pic.twitter.com/e41X6ipgl2
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“I kind of agree with trying to protect the fairness in women’s sports. But I also do not like the attack that it is creating. People who don’t really care, but just want to use this as a reason to attack the trans community. So I’m not really a big fan of that either. I don’t really know how to answer this question in a way that people aren’t going to spin it.
“But as far as where I stand, I definitely support the trans community, but I also support the need of creating fairness in sport too.”
Gauff joins Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve in calling for nuance where there must be while still offering support to the transgender community.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.