Aryna Sabalenka has voiced her support for the WTA Tour's new transgender policy, which requires all players to undergo genetic sex testing. The governing body recently confirmed that players will be asked to provide a cheek swab, blood or saliva sample to check for the presence of the SRY gene, which is part of the Y chromosome and causes male characteristics to develop.
Testing Protocol
Players will be tested once in their lifetimes and will only be allowed to compete on the WTA Tour if they submit a negative result, meaning no presence of the gene. Sabalenka is among those to have spoken out against transgender athletes competing in women's sport and has welcomed the move to introduce genetic sex testing in tennis.
She believes it will keep the competition fair, claiming that people who are born male tend to be significantly stronger than biological females. There are no known transgender athletes currently competing on the WTA Tour.
Sabalenka's Comments
Quizzed on the topic, Sabalenka said: "I think it's really important to keep the fairness in our tour. It's obviously, biologically, the men are way stronger than women, so I feel like it would be not really fair for the woman to compete against biological men.
"I believe it took them a little while to make this decision and, 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."
In an interview with Piers Morgan last year, Sabalenka said that it wouldn't be fair for a biological woman, who has devoted her entire life to reaching the peak of women's tennis, to compete against a male-born transgender player. Before facing Nick Kyrgios in their Battle of the Sexes match, she said: "I have nothing to do against them, but I feel like they have still got a huge advantage over the women and I think it’s not fair on women to face basically biological men.
"The woman has been working her whole life to reach her limit and then she has to face a man, who is biologically much stronger, so for me I don’t agree with this kind of stuff in sport."
WTA Statement
The WTA, meanwhile, have said that the introduction of genetic sex testing will "promote equal athletic opportunities in women's professional tennis and maintain fair competition for all players participating in WTA tournaments".
In a statement, they added: "Since first being introduced in 1975, the eligibility policy has undergone periodic review in light of developments across international sport.
"Following the most recent review, which included consultation with WTA members and evolving standards across women's sport, the WTA board approved an updated WTA women's eligibility policy beginning in 2026 based on biological sex.
"The WTA recognises that this is a sensitive and complex issue and is committed to treating all players with dignity and implementing the policy in a respectful and thoughtful way."
