The Women’s Tennis Association made waves when it announced it would begin genetic sex testing of its athletes. The rollout thus far has been less dramatic, falling under the press’ radar.
On Wednesday, Jessica Pegula confirmed to Front Office Sports that testing has begun at the Cincinnati Open, which gets underway Thursday.
The world’s No. 3 player had previously offered that she thought testing could begin this week. On Wednesday, she stated that it had indeed begun.
The WTA in July changed its eligibility policy to require athletes to submit to a one-time genetic gender test to establish eligibility.
Players will now 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.
“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,” a WTA spokesperson told Reuters.
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.
Earlier this month, American standout Coco Gauff expressed appreciation for a commitment to fairness, but misgivings about people’s motivations in using the testing as an attack on the trans community.
“I do not like the attack that it is creating,” Gauff said. “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.
“As far as where I stand, I definitely support the trans community, but I also support the need of creating fairness in sport, too.”
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
