52 years after the duel between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, there is another battle of the sexes. The current world number one female player loses to the world number 671 male player.
Australia’s 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 Belarusian, who is three years his junior, in a less than spectacular exhibition event in Dubai.
Kyrgios, who has been plagued by injuries, has not played an official match on the tour since March and has fallen to 671st in the world rankings, rarely had any serious problems with the current world’s best female tennis player. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist was far from his physical peak.
“I put up a great fight,” Sabalenka said afterwards, indirectly offering Kyrgios a rematch: “I love rematches and I love challenges. I would love to play again.” Kyrgios paid great respect to his opponent: “She is such a great champion.”
Criticism from the scene
The fact that the focus was on fun rather than seriousness was already evident when Sabalenka entered the court in a glittery suit to the song “Eye of the Tiger.” During a break, the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner also danced for the audience. Among the spectators at the Coca-Cola Arena was Brazil’s former soccer star Ronaldo.
Sabalenka and Kyrgios, who are signed to the same consulting agency, promoted the show event heavily before the first serve. However, there was also plenty of criticism from the tennis scene. One criticism was that Sabalenka, and thus women’s tennis, had nothing to gain from this match.
Slightly modified rules
There were a few changes compared to normal tennis matches. For example, both protagonists had only one serve. There was no change of ends, as Sabalenka’s side of the court was nine percent smaller than Kyrgios’s. This was to ensure that the conditions were as fair as possible.
From an anatomical point of view, men hit harder than women, even though Sabalenka is one of the most powerful players on the tennis tour.
1973 Battle of the Sexes tennis match
The Battle of the Sexes tennis match originated in 1973. Bobby Riggs, former world number one and Wimbledon winner, challenged the top female players at the age of 55. Australian Margaret Court, then the world’s most successful player, suffered a crushing 2-6, 1-6 defeat that went down in history as the “Mother’s Day Massacre.”
Shortly afterwards, Billie Jean King defeated Riggs, a huge success for women’s sport. In the US alone, more than 50 million people watched the match. In 2017, the spectacle was made into a film starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell in the leading roles.
