The Women’s Tennis Association has changed its eligibility policy and will require athletes to submit to a one-time genetic gender test to establish eligibility, the organization revealed early this week.
In a Reuters report detailing the specifics of the new requirements, players will be required to be tested for the SRY gene, which helps determine biological sex. The test can be administered via cheek swab or blood test.
“Player screening will begin in 2026, following all appropriate confidentiality and data privacy safeguards and concurrent with a comprehensive player engagement program,” a WTA spokesperson told Reuters. “The WTA recognizes 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.”
Previous policy allowed transgender women the ability to compete if their testosterone level was lowered past a specific threshold for more than two years prior to participation, though no known transgender women are currently active in professional tennis.
The International Olympic Committee adopted a similar policy involving a one-time test earlier this spring. Other sports organizations to adopt the testing have included the World Athletics federation and World Boxing federation.
Current and former pros have voiced their support and opposition to such testing, with critics arguing that it is discriminatory.
Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam champion and gay rights proponent, has spoken in opposition to the inclusion of transgender athletes, as has current world No. 1 player Aryna Sabalenka.
Yet Billie Jean King, famous for once winning the “battle of the sexes” in 1973, has described exclusion of transgender athletes as discrimination.
-Field Level Media
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