The world’s number one tennis player, Aryna Sabalenka, has expressed her position on the participation of transgender women in the women’s tennis circuit. The Belarusian player believes that allowing transgender women to compete in women’s tennis could create an “unfair advantage” for them over biological players. These statements were made during a podcast with Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios, prior to the “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition, an event scheduled for December 28 in Dubai.
Kyrgios supported Sabalenka’s opinion, stating that the tennis player “hit the nail on the head” with her reflections. According to current WTA regulations, a transgender tennis player can compete if she has declared her female gender identity for a minimum of four years and has maintained testosterone levels below the established limit for the previous two years. Sabalenka, who currently leads the world ranking and has won four Grand Slam titles, will face Kyrgios in one of the few mixed exhibition matches in the history of professional tennis. The format of the match will be best of three sets, with a super tie-break in case of reaching the third set. In addition, each player will have only one serve and Sabalenka’s court will be smaller to balance the match against the Australian’s powerful serve.It’s a difficult question and I have nothing against them, but I feel they would have a great advantage over the rest. I don’t think it’s fair for women to compete against biological men. A woman may have worked her whole life to compete at the highest level and facing someone biologically stronger is not fair.
Aryna Sabalenka
