{"id":980765,"date":"2026-08-04T20:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T20:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/980765\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T20:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T20:14:17","slug":"aryna-sabalenka-speaks-out-on-tennis-new-genetic-testing-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/980765\/","title":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka speaks out on tennis’ new genetic testing policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WTA World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka said she wants to keep fairness in sport while supporting the Tour\u2019s new one-time gene testing policy. <\/p>\n

During a Friday press conference<\/a> at the 2026 National Bank Open in Toronto, a reporter asked Sabalenka what she thinks about the WTA\u2019s mandatory testing for all players, effective July 21 \u2014 and the WTA becoming the first professional sports league to go in that direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really important to keep the fairness in our tour,\u201d Sabalenka said. \u201cIt\u2019s 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 man.<\/p>\n

\"ArynaAryna Sabalenka of Belarus at a press conference ahead of her next match for the Women\u2019s Singles Round of 64 match at the WTA Masters 1000 National Bank Open at Sobeys Stadium on Sunday, August 2, 2026, in Toronto, Canada. Leonardo Ramirez\/Eyepix Group\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it took them a little while to make this decision and, yeah, I support it. But for me, I\u2019m focusing on myself, on my goals, you know, whatever it takes. If they want to test us all, I\u2019m happy to do that; it\u2019s pretty fair, and let\u2019s keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WTA updated its eligibility policy<\/a> last month, stating that all players will be tested for the SRY gene, a type of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome.<\/p>\n

It comes amid heated debates of transgendered athletes\u2019 participation in sports.<\/p>\n

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham faced scrutiny after she voiced support for barring transgender athletes<\/a> from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports in a recent ESPN article, which led to an uptick in anti-trans athlete protests at Fever games.<\/p>\n

\"ArynaAryna Sabalenka reacts against Naomi Osaka of Japan during their Ladies\u2019 Singles fourth round match at The Championships Wimbledon 2026 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Sunday, July 5. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this policy, \u2018biological male\u2019 means an individual who, regardless of their legal sex or gender
identity, has an SRY gene and therefore has or previously had testes or streak testes; and
\u2018biological female\u2019 means an individual who, regardless of their legal sex or gender identity, has
no SRY gene and therefore has or previously had ovaries or streak ovaries,\u201d the WTA\u2019s eligibility policy says. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis policy distinguishes between biological sex and gender identity, and between biological
females and biological males, solely to the extent necessary to ensure that the policy is clear and
has its intended effect. There is no intent to disrespect or question the gender identity or the
dignity of any person.\u201d <\/p>\n

The\u00a0one-off mandatory gene-testing will be a requirement to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka will face Japan\u2019s Moyuka Uchijima in the Round of 64 Tuesday at the 2026 National Bank Open. <\/p>\n

The Belarusian is fresh off a fourth-round loss to Japan\u2019s Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon 2026.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka was defeated in straight sets by Osaka, 6-2, 7-6 (2).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WTA World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka said she wants to keep fairness in sport while supporting the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":980766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[48],"tags":[2477,62,41508,1464,26397,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-980765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-sports","tag-summer-olympics","tag-tennis","tag-transgender-athletes","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117039077740813898","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=980765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/980766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=980765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=980765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=980765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}