After Aryna Sabalenka's controversial comment on transgender athletes, Garbine Muguruza says men really have huge advantage over women

Rohit
Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Garbine Muguruza. (Photos: Getty)
Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Garbine Muguruza. (Photos: Getty)

Just days after Aryna Sabalenka's comments on trans athletes in women's sports, Garbine Muguruza echoed her sentiments in a recent interview. Sabalenka appeared on British media personality Piers Morgan's talk show earlier this week.

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Morgan wanted to know Sabalenka's thoughts on the participation of trans athletes in women's sports, which has become a divisive issue in recent times. She opined that it wouldn't be fair to women, who would be at a disadvantage in such a scenario.

"Well that's a tricky question. I have nothing to do against them but I feel like they still got huge advantage over the woman and I think it's just not fair to a woman to basically face like the biological man. And then it's, you know, it's not fair like the woman has been working the whole life to reach her limit and then she has to face like a man (who is) biologically much stronger. So for me, I don't agree with this kind of stuff in sports," Sabalenka said.
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Muguruza recently visited COPE, a radio station in her native Spain, to discuss her appointment as the co-director of the Madrid Open. She also touched upon the upcoming Battle of the Sexes match between Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios, which led to the discussion of trans athletes.

Muguruza reaffirmed the difference in strength between men and women, along with other characterstics. She also said that she wouldn't have been able to one-up even a male junior player at her peak.

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"Men’s superiority isn’t just based on power, but also on physical endurance, musculature, many things. I remember never being able to beat my brothers, and then I also had male sparring partners, who weren’t professionals, and I never managed to take a set off them. A guy who’s ranked 1000th in the world or who doesn’t even have a ranking can be far superior to a top 10 WTA player. When I was at my best, as world number 1, I wouldn’t have even beaten a junior," Muguruza said.
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Aside from Muguruza and Sabalenka, Martina Navratilova has been a long-time crusader against the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports from the tennis world. She recently reacted positively to Sabalenka's comments on trans athletes.


Martina Navratilova grateful to Aryna Sabalenka for her stand against trans athletes

Aryna Sabalenka at the Garden Cup 2025. (Photo: Getty)
Aryna Sabalenka at the Garden Cup 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Martina Navratilova has been a long-time critic of the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports. So when she came across Aryna Sabalenka's comments on the matter, she was quite pleased to hear that they share common ground on the subject. She took to X (formerly Twitter) to react to her comments.

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"Thank you Aryna!" Navratilova said.

Navratilova's pushback against trans athletes in women's sports goes back a long time. Her views on the matter gained prominence following an article she published in February 2019, and she has continued to voice her opinion on the same more frequently since then.

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