Coco Gauff agrees with mandatory gene-testing in the name of fairness, but she also has concern about unintended consequences the Women’s Tennis Association might be inviting around a polarizing, politicized topic.
Mandatory testing for the DNA segment known as the SRY gene was approved as part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics for all tennis participants. Gender-based screening is already part of the Olympic testing process in many other sports at the Games.
Track and field, boxing and winter skiing events are among the Olympic sports with governing bodies already overseeing gender screening.
After defeating Kayla Day at the National Bank Open in Toronto on Wednesday, Gauff tried to sensitively share those concerns and the potential for a negative impact.
“So, yes, I guess I kind of agree with trying to protect the fairness in women’s sports,” Gauff said.
“But I also do not like the attack that it is creating,” the 22-year-old continued. “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.”
The subject has been discussed by athletes across sports in recent weeks, with multiple WNBA players weighing in on gender-related questions in news conference settings.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham can relate to Gauff’s perspective. Cunningham said in a story published by ESPN last month that she wants to “protect young girls in the locker room,” adding that “they shouldn’t have to go against biological men” in competitive sports.
Fans in some opposing cities protested Cunningham’s stance with their voices and signs in or around the arenas in Portland, Chicago, Minnesota and Seattle.
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve and Cunningham discussed the topic prior to the Fever-Lynx game in Minneapolis, a moment both later described as coming from a place of “love.”
“A lot of people hide behind screens and love that type of thing. She had stories about her point of view and I had stories about my point of view,” Cunningham said. “We left with love and respect and I think that’s what it’s all about.”
Reeve said she felt it was necessary to clear up the framing of the public conversation around transgender athletes.
“It is not the case that we have quote ‘biological men’ in girls’ locker rooms,” Reeve said. “The way it’s being phrased — the innuendo there — that somehow transgender women are predators of some kind in the locker room.”
–Field Level Media
