WTA to require one-time SRY gene screening for women’s tour eligibility
The women’s tennis tour will begin eligibility screening in 2026 under a revised policy that replaces its previous testosterone-based rules.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
The Women’s Tennis Association will require players to pass a one-time gene screening to be eligible for its women’s tour, Reuters reported. The change matters because it replaces the tour’s previous transgender eligibility rules with a biological-sex screening process.
The WTA said Sunday that the test will check for the SRY gene, which is involved in determining biological sex, according to Reuters. The test can be done using either a cheek swab or a blood sample, and the updated policy takes effect Tuesday.
A WTA spokesperson told Reuters that eligibility for WTA tournaments will be confirmed through a required, one-time screening process for the SRY gene. The spokesperson said player screening will start in 2026.
The WTA said the process will include confidentiality and data privacy protections, Reuters reported. The association also said the rollout will take place alongside a player engagement program.
“The WTA recognises 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 WTA spokesperson told Reuters.
Policy shifts from testosterone rules
Under the WTA’s prior policy, transgender women could compete if they declared their gender as female and kept testosterone levels reduced for two years before entering competition, according to Reuters.
Reuters reported that there are no known transgender women currently competing at any level of professional tennis. The WTA’s new rule places tennis alongside other sports bodies that have adopted similar testing rules in recent years.
World Athletics and World Boxing have introduced comparable gene tests, Reuters reported. In March, the International Olympic Committee said only biological female athletes whose gender had been determined by a one-time test would be eligible for women’s category events at the Olympic Games.
Debate over transgender participation
The issue has divided prominent figures in tennis and across sport. Renee Richards, a transgender player, competed on the women’s professional tour from 1977 to 1981 and later coached Martina Navratilova, Reuters reported.
Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and gay rights advocate, has criticized the inclusion of transgender athletes in sport, according to Reuters. Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1, said last year that it would be unfair for women to compete against transgender players, Reuters reported.
Billie Jean King, who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and the 1973 “battle of the sexes,” has taken a different view. Reuters reported that King sees exclusion of transgender athletes as discrimination.
Transgender advocacy groups say barring transgender athletes from competition is discriminatory, according to Reuters. Critics of transgender inclusion argue that male puberty gives athletes musculoskeletal advantages that transition does not remove.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.