{"id":307688,"date":"2025-11-22T20:25:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T20:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/307688\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T20:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T20:25:07","slug":"battle-of-the-sexes-clash-between-sabalenka-and-kyrgios-has-been-turned-into-a-farce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/307688\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle of the Sexes clash between Sabalenka and Kyrgios has been turned into a farce"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the rumours were confirmed and the \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 showdown between women\u2019s world No 1 Aryna Sabelanka<\/a> and former Grand Slam finalist Nick Kyrgios<\/a> was confirmed for December 28th in Dubai, it felt like a moment to end years of debates.<\/p>\n

Billie Jean King\u2019s famous match against Bobby Riggs back in 1973 paved the way for equal pay in Grand Slam events for women, but that was a match contested under conventional tennis rules.<\/p>\n

It meant the victory for King was a symbolic strike for women\u2019s tennis, but that will not be the case if Sabalenka beats Kyrgios in what has been turned into a curious exhibition circus.<\/p>\n

The match has been organised by Evolve, a sports agency founded by Naomi Osaka, which represents both Sabalenka and Kyrgios, and if they were playing to conventional rules, it could have been a fascinating contest.<\/p>\n

A fully fit and firing Kyrgios would have had too much power for Sabalenka<\/a>, but the Aussie has barely played a competitive singles match over the last three years and his ranking is languishing at No 659.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/p>\n

\u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019: What we know and what Aryna Sabalenka & Nick Kyrgios have said<\/a><\/p>\n

Aryna Sabalenka reveals she could be helped by Novak Djokovic in \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 clash<\/a><\/p>\n

His lack of activity and injury issues should have been enough to a handicap to ensure his match against Sabalenka was an interesting clash, but organisers have gone out of their way to make sure this will be little more than a showbiz event in Dubai.<\/p>\n

This exhibition match will be played over the best of three sets and there will be a 10\u2013point championship tiebreak should a third set be required.<\/p>\n

There will also be a rule that the two players only have one serve each, in what is being seen as a bid to dilute Kyrgios\u2019 biggest weapon.<\/p>\n

There will also be modifications made to the court, with Sabalenka\u2019s side set to be smaller than Kyrgios\u2019 due to calculations that women cover less ground than their male counterparts, but the point of this match should have been to end the long-running and pretty futile debate over who would win in the battle between a top male player and a leading female player.<\/p>\n

Whatever happens in a match played under these rules, the debate over whether a women could take on a man on a tennis court will not be ended, as it will be hard to treat the outcome of this match with any credibility.<\/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 said Sabalenka, as she looked ahead to the contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have so much respect for Billie Jean King and what she has done for the women\u2019s game. I\u2019m proud to represent women\u2019s tennis and to be part of this modern take of the iconic \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyrgios also talked up the match that will be played at Dubai\u2019s Coca-Cola Arena as he said: \u201cWhen the world number one challenges you, you answer the call. I\u2019ve got massive respect for Aryna; she\u2019s a powerhouse and a true champion.<\/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

We will also sneak a peak at the \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 match-up and if Sabelanka can give Kyrgios a match, even under modified rules, it will fuel enthusiasm for a more serious contest played under normal tennis conditions.<\/p>\n

If Kyrgios wins this contest in double quick time even though he is only allowed to serve once and is playing on a bigger court despite his ongoing injury issues, this match may end up denting the reputation of the women\u2019s game and that is the last things tennis needs right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the rumours were confirmed and the \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 showdown between women\u2019s world No 1 Aryna…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":["post-307688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}