Coco Gauff says she supports trans community and fairness in women’s sports amid new WTA policy

Coco Gauff has criticized people using the WTA Tour’s gene testing policy to create “animosity towards the trans community”.

Speaking at the Canadian Open in Toronto, the two-time Grand Slam champion said “I definitely support the trans community, but I also support the need of creating fairness in sport” when asked about the tour’s decision to introduce a one-off test for the SRY gene.

“I understand the reasoning behind it. I do think that this kind of conversation has created a lot of animosity towards the trans community, which I’m not really a big fan of,” Gauff said Wednesday after defeating Kayla Day 6-2, 7-5 in her opening match at the WTA 1000 event, one rung below the Grand Slams.

“I also understand, I guess, the biological difference and the need to protect that and preserve that. So I think it’s a conversation that is very nuanced, and I need to have a nuanced answer.

“So, yes, I guess I kind of agree with trying to protect the fairness in women’s sports. But I also do not like the attack that it is creating. 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 either.”

There are no known transgender women ⁠currently active on the WTA Tour. The tour’s previous policy included provisions for transgender women and players who identify as non-binary to compete in its events, subject to meeting a baseline for the concentration of testosterone present in their blood.

The new policy, which the WTA said is designed to “preserve the integrity of women’s professional tennis and maintain fair competition conditions,” distinguishes between biological sex and gender identity, and between biological females and biological males, according to the policy. Those terms are now defined by the WTA as the respective possession or absence of the SRY gene, which is involved in male-typical sex development and is found on the Y chromosome.

The policy includes exceptions for athletes with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome “or other disorder of gonadal development,” in which the presence of testosterone has no impact on an athlete’s body.

In her news conference, Gauff suggested that the process “could have been more transparent” among players, suggesting that some on the tour had only found out about the policy when it was announced.

Other players on the tour have taken different positions. In a news conference ahead of the Canadian Open, women’s world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka said that she “feels like it would be not really fair for the woman to compete against biological man.”

Following her win over Daria Kasatkina, world No. 2 Elena Rybakina said in her news conference: “If we got to do it, we will do it. For me, I won’t say it’s unnecessary, but I think it was without these tests also fine. But if we need to do it, we will do it.”

Gauff’s next match in Toronto is against Greece’s Maria Sakkari Friday.