"No man is deciding 'You know what? I think I can win Wimbledon if I just become a woman'" - Rennae Stubbs slams Navratilova's support over WTA gender tests

The WTA has come under some heat in recent times after announcing that all players must undergo a one-time genetic sex test, continuing to represent a shift from the WTA’s previous transgender eligibility policy. Six-time doubles Grand Slam champion Rennae Stubbs is one of the people firmly against this change, calling out tennis legend Martina Navratilova after the duo expressed different points of view.

This is set to come in effect immediately, with tennis players forced to do it only once in their career. A genetic test through either a cheek swab, saliva sample or blood sample will pull up the intended results.

Those who test negative for the SRY gene will be eligible to compete on the WTA Tour while players with positive tests will be forced to carry out further medical assessment before a conclusion is drawn to determine whether they would be allowed to participate in future tournaments.

Debates have been regularly ensued on this specific topic over the past days with tennis fans conflicted on if this is right port of call. This has led to Navratilova having her say on X, responding to a number of fans in the process with the 18-time Grand Slam champion supporting this decision.

Her opinions have most certainly not gone unnoticed. Being such an influential person in this realm, fans listen and rely on her to say the right things. From Stubbs perspective, she has not on this instance and instantly wanted to respond to it with her raw thoughts.

"But there aren't any. So why is this a problem? For such a small percentage of people in the world who identify as trans, this is my biggest thing. I say this all the time," she said on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.

"Yes, I'm very much on the opposite side of Martina and a lot of these former players because I don't see it as a problem. No man is deciding at 18 or 20 years of age, 'You know what? I think I can win Wimbledon if I just become a woman, I'm going to start taking oestrogen and do all these things to get myself a Wimbledon title.'"

She questioned the WTA's thinking on why they would focus on such a small section on society while also being left bemused by the timing of this decision. "It just doesn't happen. So we're focusing on such a small, tiny, minute section of the population to make a point right now. Why? What has happened to make the WTA decide that this is part of an agenda they want to pick up and run with in the middle of the year?"

Stubbs has been in this situation before, unveiling that she was forced to undergo a sex test to play in her first Olympics at Atlanta in 1996. “We actually got given a card to basically say: ‘Oh, yeah, you’re a woman, you have the genes of a female, therefore you can participate’,” she said. When I did it, I was like, ‘this is weird, seriously?’ I thought it was such an invasion of my own privacy back then. Why the WTA needs to venture into this category of controversy is just bizarre to me.”

There is no getting around it for the players. If they refuse to undergo the tests, then it could result in disciplinary action following a declaration they have been forced to sign. According to the WTA, there are no transgender women competing on the tour in this current moment in time.