The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has introduced mandatory gene testing for all players to ensure only females are eligible to compete.

The Association joins track and field, skiing, and boxing in adopting this standard, and aligns with the new requirement to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 

Every player will undergo a one-time cheek swab to test for the SRY gene, a segment of DNA found on the Y chromosome that initiates male sex development. The screening will ensure any players found with this gene will be ineligible to compete.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova called it "a step in the right direction," writing on X: 

“I am very happy that we at the WTA are clear that we are a women’s association and only women, as in females, can compete at the highest level of women’s tennis.”

She’s right. And the fact that this is considered newsworthy tells you everything about how far things have gone.

Women’s sport exists because biological sex is real and significant. A cheek swab to confirm that is not radical. It is not cruel. It is science.

Of course, human rights groups are already crying foul. They always do. But major sporting institutions are increasingly refusing to capitulate to that pressure and women athletes are better off for it.

This is a win. Celebrate it. And keep pushing for the same common sense to reach every level of Australian sport.