A transgender athlete, Alicia Rowley, won a national women’s tennis tournament. Legendary tennis star Martina Navratilova is not standing on the sidelines silently accepting the war on women’s sports.

Martina has consistently spoken out against men competing in women’s sports. I applaud her for that. The war on women’s sports has to stop before any more damage is done. Until then, though, women like Martina are fighting the good fight.

The U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) claims that Rowley won the Women’s National Tennis Championship and ‘the coveted Golden Ball’. I’ll let you make your own jokes over that award. Martina said that women’s tennis is ‘not for failed male athletes.’ She said the same thing the rest of us are saying – “it was not right and not fair.” Navratilova knows what she is talking about as she won 187 singles titles during her career.

The Independent Council On Women’s Sports (ICONS) made the announcement on Twitter.

🎾 Male tennis player, Alicia Rowley is the latest Women’s National Tennis Champion and winner of the coveted “golden ball”

Rowley has recently won the women’s 55+:
🥇Grass Court National Championships
🥇National Indoor Singles and Doubleshttps://t.co/CAncjeej8D pic.twitter.com/arYxPeFr8r

— ICONS (@icons_women) August 5, 2023

The USTA has a Transgender Inclusion Policy that states trans athletes should be included in tennis and not be blocked from playing tennis.

The document states: ‘It is necessary to ensure, insofar as possible, that transgender athletes are not excluded from the opportunity to participate in sporting competitions.

‘The overriding sporting objective is and remains the guarantee of fair competition. Restrictions on participation are appropriate to the extent that they are necessary and proportionate to the achievement of this objective.’

Chris Evert is Chair of USTA Foundation Board of Directors. She sounds like she is on the same page as Martina. The two women reminensced about playing against Renee Richards. Richards was the first transgender athlete to play in women’s tennis in 1977. They said that Richards knew he had an advantage over women competitors. If Richards had been younger when he began playing in women’s tennis, the history of the sport would have changed forever. Both Evert and Navratilova admit they had a difficult time beating Richards, back in the day.

Hi Bob, here are some facts…1) when I was #1 in the world, I struggled to beat Renee.She was 43…2)Renee has said if she had been 25, she would’ve wiped everyone off the court 3) Martina is no hater and Renee is awesome… https://t.co/4TqqnEPKR2

— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) June 19, 2022

Both women objected to women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe stating her support for transgender athletes in women’s soccer. Martina said it is a matter of fairness over inclusion.

I totally disagree with Megan on this. Fairness must come above inclusion- especially after puberty- around 10-11 years old… before that let kids be kids and just have fun a sling as it’s safe. After puberty biology must come first https://t.co/d5ArwdyZuj

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) June 20, 2022

So, after the championship was announced, ICONS Co-founder, Kim Shasby Jones tagged Navratilova and Chrissie Evert in a tweet. She claimed the USTA’s transgender policy should be changed. She said women’s tennis is turning into a laughingstock. Martina retweeted the tweet in agreement.

Come on @USTA– women’s tennis is not for failed male athletes- whatever age. This is not right and it is not fair. Would this be allowed at the US Open this month? Just with self ID? I don’t think so… https://t.co/UkBzhaL6b6

— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) August 6, 2023

The USTA policy on transgenders sounds like the organization doesn’t want to hurt anyone’ s feelings. Just let the competitor say he is a female and that’s good enough.

Their Transgender Inclusion Policy reads: ‘On the league and recreational side of the equation, the USTA takes the position that we do not require confirmations of gender identity status. Above all, we do not want to be an obstacle to recreational participation.

‘We seek to respect all individuals, and we take it on faith that players who compete under these rules are doing so not to gain a competitive advantage, but to enjoy participating in a manner in which they are comfortable.’

For professional competitions it adds: ‘Those who transition from male to female are eligible to compete in the female category under the following conditions: The athlete has declared that her gender identity is female. The declaration cannot be changed, for sporting purposes, for a minimum of four years.

‘Hormonal therapy appropriate for the assigned sex has been administered in a verifiable manner and for a sufficient length of time to minimise gender-related advantages in sport competitions.’

The president o a Wyoming tennis association resigned last week over transgenders in women’s tennis.

It comes after the president of a Wyoming tennis association, Jackie Fulkrod, resigned last week in protest against a decision to allow a transgender female player, Brooklyn Ross, to participate in the women’s singles category of the Governor’s Cup.

Fulkrod said to Cowboy State Daily: ‘I think a man playing against a woman is a very unfair matchup when it’s specifically meant for women in that specific draw,’ she told Cowboy State Daily.’

‘My decision to resign was solely based on the fact that we didn’t have any way to protect our organisation or protect our female athletes that are going to be playing in the tournament,’ Fulkrod added.

Martina and Chris Evert are big voices in women’s tennis. Maybe they can make some headway in stopping this disaster. Let girls and women have a space where they can compete against each other without unfairly being pitted against men. Stop the war on women in sports. Martina says it well – fairness over inclusive.