Aryna Sabalenka wades into transgender tennis debate – ‘It’s not fair’ | Tennis | Sport

Aryna Sabalenka has vowed that it wouldn’t be fair for a female tennis star to face a transgender player. The four-time Grand Slam champion, who defeated Emma Raducanu at this year’s Wimbledon, gave her thoughts on the subject during an interview with Piers Morgan this week.

The WTA Tour gender participation policy has sanctioned transgender players to compete in women’s tournaments as long as they meet certain conditions. Transgender players must have declared their gender as female for at least four years and have had lowered testosterone levels for the last two years. And conditions could also be varied by the WTA medical manager.

Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored to discuss their Battle of the Sexes clash.

And Morgan said to Sabalenka: “It has raised the whole question again, of this ongoing debate about trans athletes in women’s sport, because obviously it highlights the physical disparity between men and women.

“Martina Navratilova, a former No. 1 like yourself, says it’s wrong for the WTA to allow trans women to compete in its events. Do you agree with her?”

And Sabalenka replied: “Um, well that’s a tricky question. I have nothing to do against them but I feel like they’ve still got a huge advantage over the women and I think it’s just not fair to a woman to face a biological man.

“It’s not fair, the woman has been working her whole life to reach her limit and then she has to face a man, who is biologically much stronger. So, for me, I don’t agree with this kind of stuff in sport.”

And Kyrgios added: “Yeah, I feel the exact same way.”

The Battle of the Sexes clash is scheduled to be held in Dubai on December 28 and will be played over three sets, with a 10-point tiebreak then being used if the scores are still level after that stage.

And Sabalenka defended the match during an interview with the BBC as she explained: “I am not putting myself at any risk. We’re there to have fun and bring great tennis. Whoever wins, wins.

“It’s so obvious that the man is biologically stronger than the woman, but it’s not about that. This event is only going to help bring women’s tennis to a higher level.”

She then added: “It’s not going to be an easy match for Nick. I’m going to be there competing and showing women are strong, powerful and good entertainment. He’s in a lose-lose situation. I’m in a win-win situation.”