Man versus woman in tennis Kyrgios beats Sabalenka in a duel of the sexes
52 years after the duel between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, it's back to a battle of the sexes. The currently best female player in the world loses to the men's number 671.
28.12.2025, 19:38
28.12.2025, 19:44
dpa
Australian Nick Kyrgios has won the eagerly awaited Battle of the Sexes in tennis against world number one Aryna Sabalenka. The 30-year-old prevailed 6:3, 6:3 against the three years younger Belarusian in a less than spectacular show event in Dubai.
The permanently injured Kyrgios, who has not played an official match on the tour since March and has dropped to 671st in the world rankings, rarely had any serious problems with the best tennis player in the world at the moment. Yet the 2022 Wimbledon finalist was far from his top physical form.
"I put up a great fight," said Sabalenka afterwards and indirectly offered Kyrgios a rematch: "I love rematches and I love challenges. I would love to play again." Kyrgios paid great respect to his opponent: "She's such a great champion."
Criticism from the scene
Sabalenka's entrance in a glitter suit to the song "Eye of the Tiger" showed that the focus was on fun and not seriousness. During a break, the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner also danced for the audience. Among the spectators in the Coca-Cola Arena was Brazil's former soccer star Ronaldo.
Sabalenka and Kyrgios, who are under contract with the same consulting agency, did a lot of advertising for the show event before the first serve. However, there was also plenty of criticism from the tennis scene. One point of criticism was that Sabalenka and women's tennis had nothing to gain from this match.
Slightly adapted rules
There were a few changes compared to normal tennis matches. For example, both protagonists only had one serve. There were no side changes, as Sabalenka's side of the court was nine percent smaller than Kyrgios'. The aim was to create the fairest possible conditions.
From an anatomical point of view alone, men hit harder than women, even though Sabalenka is one of the most powerful players on the tennis tour.
Tennis battle of the sexes from 1973
The tennis battle of the sexes began in 1973 when Bobby Riggs, former world number one and Wimbledon winner, challenged the top female players at the age of 55. The Australian Margaret Court, the most successful player in the world at the time, suffered a crushing defeat of 2:6, 1:6, which went down in history as the "Mother's Day Massacre".
A short time later, Billie Jean King won against Riggs, and this victory was a huge success for women's sport. More than 50 million people watched in the USA alone. In 2017, the spectacle was made into a film starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.
