{"id":244542,"date":"2025-11-05T03:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T03:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/244542\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T03:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T03:03:07","slug":"nick-kyrgios-to-play-womens-no-1-aryna-sabalenka-in-battle-of-the-sexes-clash-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/244542\/","title":{"rendered":"Nick Kyrgios to play women\u2019s No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Battle of the Sexes clash | Tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nick Kyrgios, Australian former Wimbledon finalist, is to play women\u2019s world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> in an exhibition match in Dubai.<\/p>\n

The clash evokes memories of the 1973 Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs \u2013 which King won in straight sets in the Houston Astrodome and was later the subject of a Hollywood movie.<\/p>\n

Kyrgios also follows Australians Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Pat Cash in playing such a match.<\/p>\n

The exhibition, to take place on 28 December, was confirmed by both players on social media. It is likely to be played under modified rules including Kyrgios being restricted to a single serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the world No 1 challenges you, you answer the call. I\u2019ve got massive respect for Aryna; she\u2019s a powerhouse and a true champion,\u201d said Kyrgios, who shares an agent with Sabalenka.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve never backed down from a challenge, and I\u2019m not just here to play, I\u2019m here to entertain. This is what I live for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aryna Sabalenka at the WTA Finals. Photograph: Robert Prange\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kyrgios, 30, has barely played in recent years after being plagued by injuries and is currently ranked 652nd in the world.<\/p>\n

He was in the top 20 in October 2022 when he was forced to withdraw from the quarter-final of the ATP 500 Tokyo Open with a left knee injury.<\/p>\n

He has since played six matches, winning one, losing four and retiring in the other. He last played on the ATP Tour at the Miami Open in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of respect for Nick and his talent, but make no mistake, I\u2019m ready to bring my A-game,\u201d Sabalenka, 27, has said of the match.<\/p>\n

The Battle of the Sexes match came after Riggs, then 55 and a long-retired tennis pro, beat Court in May 1973.<\/p>\n

Court, who won the Australian, French and US Open titles that year, lost 6-2 6-1 in what was later dubbed the \u201cMother\u2019s Day Massacre\u201d.<\/p>\n

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King, who had initially rejected Riggs\u2019 challenge, then felt she had to respond, in what was promoted as the first official Battle of the Sexes.<\/p>\n

King won 6-4 6-3 6-3 in front of an estimated 90 million TV viewers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have so much respect for Billie Jean King and what she has done for the women\u2019s game,\u201d Sabalenka said. \u201cI\u2019m proud to represent women\u2019s tennis and to be part of this modern take of the iconic Battle of the Sexes match.\u201d<\/p>\n

There have been plenty of other mixed-gender singles matches right back to 1888 when the Wimbledon men\u2019s and women\u2019s singles champions played each other. Ernest Renshaw beat Lottie Dod 2-6 7-5 7-5 after Dod began every game 30-0 up.<\/p>\n

Among them in 1975 Goolagong Cawley, then known as Evonne Goolagong, beat Ilie Nastase 7-5. The latter, a noted entertainer, entered court in a dress, was not allowed to rush the net unless forced to by Goolagong\u2019s shot, and only had one serve while the Australian could hit into the doubles alleys.<\/p>\n

Cash, then in his early fifties, lost to then-British No.1 Johanna Konta in 2017, 6-3. The match was played in a shopping centre, on an artificial surface, with former player Greg Rusedski umpiring and Cash described as \u201cflamboyant\u201d with his shot-making.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Kyrgios, Australian former Wimbledon finalist, is to play women\u2019s world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in an exhibition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-244542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}