Tennis star Coco Gauff addresses WTA gene testing requirement

American tennis star Coco Gauff weighed in on the WTA’s new sex testing requirement for players, saying she understands the desire to create fair competition while also expressing her support for the transgender community.

Gauff, the world No. 4-ranked singles player is competing in the National Bank Open in Toronto, a 13-day tournament that started last week. She answered a question about the policy after her second-round win against fellow American Kayla Day on Wednesday, Aug. 5.

“I understand the reasoning behind it and I do think this kind of conversation has created a lot of animosity towards the trans community, which I’m not really a big fan of, but I also understand the, I guess, biological difference and the need to protect that and preserve that,” Gauff said. “So I think it’s a conversation that is very nuanced and I need to have a nuanced answer. So yes, I kind of agree with trying to protect the fairness in women’s sports, but also do not like the attack that it is creating (by) people who don’t really care but just want to use this as a reason to attack the trans community.

“I don’t really know how to answer this question in a way that people aren’t gonna spin it. But as far as where I stand, I definitely support the trans community but I also support the need of creating fairness in sport, too.”

Jessica Pegula: WTA gene testing expected to start this month

The WTA changed its gender eligibility policy July 21, requiring all players take a one-time SRY gene test. The test, done by blood sample or cheek swab, checks for the presence of a gene found on the Y chromosome and associated with typical male sex development. If a player tests positive, they will be ineligible to compete unless they can prove to the satisfaction of the WTA medical personnel that they have Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or another developmental sex disorder.

The policy states that players can appeal decisions in state or federal court located in Saint Petersburg, Florida, the WTA’s principal place of business. They can also appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an independent authority based in Switzerland that resolves international sports disputes.

The International Olympic Committee recently brought back SRY gene testing for Olympic athletes even though the method was discontinued in the 1990s after tests sometimes produced positive results for women who were intersex or had chromosomal disorders.

Under the WTA’s former policy, transgender and nonbinary women were allowed to compete against other women as long as they maintained blood testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per liter for a specified period.

There has not been an openly transgender player in professional tennis since Renée Richards, who competed on the women’s tour from 1977 to 1981.

Since 2025, multiple international sports federations, including the IOC, have changed their eligibility policies to prevent transgender women from competing in the women’s category. The WTA is not affiliated with the Olympics (a separate organization, World Tennis, is the sport’s global governing body) but cited recent trends in its updated policy.

“Since first being introduced in 1975, the eligibility policy has undergone periodic review in light ofdevelopments across international sport,” the WTA policy says. “Following the most recent review, which included consultation with WTA members and evolving standards across women’s sport, the WTA Board approved an updated WTA Women’s Eligibility Policy beginning in 2026 based on biological sex.”

Gauff said the WTA’s policy change came as a surprise to some of her fellow competitors on tour.

“I know it’s been something that’s been talked about for a while but I’ve talked to a couple other players and a lot of them didn’t find out until the press release,” Gauff said. “So I do think that’s something that could’ve been more transparent amongst players across the tour.”

World No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the highest ranked American woman, said Aug. 5 that she was told the WTA will begin testing players at the Cincinnati Open, which runs Aug. 8-23. Pegula, a member of the WTA Players’ Council, said players received education about the policy and she’s heard no pushback from players.

“It wasn’t just kind of laid on us like, ‘You have to do this.’ There was a lot of education and stuff in the background of all the stuff players have had to do to learn about it,” Pegula said. “I think the WTA just wanted to update their policy based on what they’ve seen from other sporting organizations. So far, at least from my point of view, I don’t really have any pushback on it. Even being on Council, no players have really mentioned or said anything about it. I think that we’ll see, now that we’re here in Toronto, a bigger tournament, and going into Cincy when the testing starts, we’ll see if there’s any more feedback.”

USA TODAY reached out to the WTA for additional specifics on its testing schedule but had not immediately heard back.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tennis star Coco Gauff addresses WTA gene testing requirement