{"id":367437,"date":"2025-12-24T11:51:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T11:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/367437\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T11:51:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T11:51:08","slug":"kyrgios-v-sabalenka-rules-battle-of-sexes-to-use-modified-court-and-single-serve-limit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/367437\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyrgios v Sabalenka rules: \u2018Battle of Sexes\u2019 to use modified court and single-serve limit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Miguel<\/p>\n

Join the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletter and get behind-the-scenes access and unrivalled insightJoin the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletterJoin the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletter<\/p>\n

\"Miguel<\/p>\n

The \u2018Battle of the Sexes<\/a>\u2019 tennis exhibition between women\u2019s No 1 Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> and Nick Kyrgios<\/a> will take place using a modified court and with a single-serve limit. <\/p>\n

The organisers of the event, the Evolve agency which represents both players, confirmed that the side of the court Sabalenka will defend will be nine per cent smaller than standard. <\/p>\n

In addition, both Sabalenka and Kyrgios will be limited to one serve each when starting points, in a move that will force both players to prioritise accuracy over speed and has been introduced to neutralise Kyrgios\u2019s natural advantage in power. <\/p>\n

\"Kyrgios<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Kyrgios and Sabalenka will have one serve each and the women\u2019s No 1 will defend a smaller side of the court (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In the press release announcing the match, Evolve said the nine per cent reduction of Sabalenka\u2019s side of the court has been made to \u201creflect average movement-speed differences between men and women\u201d. <\/p>\n

Sabalenka and Kyrgios will play best-of-three sets, with a match tiebreak, to ten points, deciding the winner if required. Kyrgios played just five official matches in 2025 due to injury but is targeting a return in 2026 <\/a>and plans to enter the Australian Open. <\/p>\n

Kyrgios, who is ranked 671 in the world due to his injury lay-off, argued for the one-serve limit for both players after Sabalenka was originally meant to have two. <\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally I had two serves but then he got so stressed that he took away one serve,\u201d Sabalenka told Piers Morgan Uncensored in a joint-interview with Kyrgios. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like if she had two serves and I only had one serve I would be the underdog, I\u2019m not even joking,\u201d Kyrgios said. \u201cIt would be tough out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kyrgios<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Kyrgios hit a top serving speed of 218kmph \/ 135 mph at a match at Indian Wells earlier this season (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Sabalenka claimed it would be \u201creally tough\u201d to compete against a male player using a full court and standard rules. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, physically they\u2019re much stronger, speed, the power of the balls, everything is much stronger,\u201d the World No 1 said on Piers Morgan Uncensored. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo it’s tough to compete but in these conditions, like we’re having right now with the nine per cent smaller court, I feel like, OK, maybe at least I have a higher chance to compete and to see if I can win this. And if I can then maybe maybe I will go for a regular match.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sabalenka<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Sabalenka won her fourth grand slam title at the US Open (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The exhibition match, which takes place in Dubai and will be broadcast live on the BBC, is an attempt at a modern-day recasting of the 1973 \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019, where women\u2019s No 1 Billie Jean King defeated the 55-year-old former men\u2019s No 1 Bobby Riggs, a self-described \u201cmale chauvinist\u201d. <\/p>\n

King, who beat Riggs in straight-sets in front of a crown of 30,000 people at Houston\u2019s Astrodome, dismissed any comparison between her victory over Riggs and the contest between Sabalenka and Kyrgios, telling the BBC that her win was about \u201csocietal change\u201d. <\/p>\n

“The only similarity is that one is a boy and one is a girl. That’s it,\u201d King, now 82, said. \u201cEverything else, no. Ours was about social change; culturally, where we were in 1973. This one is not. I hope it’s a great match. I want Sabalenka, obviously, to win. But it’s just not the same.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Join the Miguel Delaney: Inside Football newsletter and get behind-the-scenes access and unrivalled insightJoin the Miguel Delaney: Inside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-367437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367437","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=367437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}