WTA mandates genetic test for player eligibility

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has adopted a new eligibility policy requiring athletes competing on the women’s professional tour to undergo a one-time genetic test beginning in 2026, marking a significant change to its participation rules.

Under the revised policy, players must be screened for the SRY gene, a genetic marker associated with biological sex determination. The screening may be conducted through either a cheek swab or a blood test.

The WTA said the new eligibility requirements are intended to preserve fair competition while ensuring the screening process is handled with appropriate privacy protections.

“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.”

The updated policy replaces the WTA’s previous framework, which allowed transgender women to compete in women’s events if they maintained testosterone levels below a specified threshold for more than two years before participating.

According to Reuters, there are currently no known transgender women actively competing in professional tennis.

The WTA’s move aligns women’s professional tennis with a growing number of international sports governing bodies that have adopted genetic or biological sex-based eligibility standards.

Earlier this year, the International Olympic Committee introduced a comparable one-time genetic screening requirement for athletes competing in female categories at the Olympic Games. Similar policies have also been adopted by World Athletics and World Boxing.

The policy has generated mixed reactions within the tennis community and the broader sports world.

Supporters argue that biological sex-based eligibility standards help protect fairness in women’s competition, while critics contend that mandatory genetic testing discriminates against transgender athletes.

Among the policy’s supporters is Martina Navratilova, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and longtime advocate for gay rights, who has previously opposed the inclusion of transgender women in women’s competition.

Current world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has also expressed support for restricting transgender participation in women’s events.

Former world No. 1 Billie Jean King, who became an international sports icon after winning the “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition match in 1973, has taken the opposite view, describing the exclusion of transgender athletes from women’s sports as discriminatory.