Aryna Sabalenka: I do not agree with transgender tennis players, it is unfair

During the same interview – in which she sat alongside Nick Kyrgios to promote their upcoming “Battle of the Sexes” in Dubai on December 28 – Sabalenka was asked about recent comments from Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian world No 26, who had claimed in October that she was at a disadvantage against players like Sabalenka and this summer’s Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek because they have a higher level of testosterone than her.

“All I hear here is just excuses,” Sabalenka replied. “It’s actually quite funny, because she [Kostyuk] is a strong girl, and she probably has more muscles than I do and she looks fit and strong, and I think that [a difference in testosterone levels] is not the case in all the matches she lost against top players.”

One other area of controversy that came up in the interview was the apparently unequal treatment shown to high-profile tennis players who have tested positive for banned substances.

There has been backstage unrest within the sport over the way that Swiatek and men’s world No 2 Jannik Sinner both received relatively light and convenient sentences on grounds of contamination, after they each returned a positive test in 2024. Meanwhile, lesser names have often had to serve lengthy provisional suspensions before their cases were heard.

Sabalenka sounded as though she shared the general sense of scepticism about the whole process, but eventually settled for a vague statement of unease.

“With Iga, they counted her weeks [of suspension, which ran to one month] off somehow randomly,” Sabalenka said. “‘Okay, we count them during the China swing, and then you can play the [WTA] Finals, and then we take a couple of weeks during the next season.’ I think we should have the same treatment for every player.”

Sabalenka and Kyrgios – who is ranked at No 672 after many months of absence through injury – are to contest their match over three sets in Dubai. Playing conditions state that each player will have just one serve per point, while the court will be nine per cent smaller on Sabalenka’s side. Live coverage is to be available on BBC2.