Sabalenka eager to prove point in ‘Battle of the Sexes’ clash with Kyrgios

Aryna Sabalenka says she wants to “kick Nick Kyrgios’s a–” in a new “Battle of the Sexes” match.

Kyrgios, who has not played any singles tennis since the Miami Open earlier this year, said earlier this week that he would not need to “try 100 per cent” to beat the women’s No 1. He also appeared surprised that she “genuinely thinks she’s going to win”.

Now Sabalenka, who beat Jessica Pegula to reach the US Open final, has had her say on the proposed match.

“I think it’s a cool idea. I think it’s gonna be spectacular to watch. It’s going to be fun, especially against someone like Nick,” Sabalenka said.

“Like he said in another interview, that I genuinely think that I’m going to win, and I’ll definitely go out there, and I’ll try my best to kick his a–.”

Kyrgios, who shares an agent with Sabalenka, was confident of his abilities in a YouTube interview with Alexander Bublik.

“She’s not going to beat me,” he said. “Do you really think I have to try 100 per cent? I will try because I’m representing the men’s side. I think I’ll win 6-2.”

When Bublik pressed him on why he was so confident and where he felt his strengths would lie against Sabalenka, he said: “Our serves… women can’t really return those. And then we can just chip and drop shot.”

There had been reports that the match would take place in Hong Kong early next year, but Sabalenka said details had yet to be confirmed.

When asked if the match represents a good move for women’s tennis, she said: “It’s gonna be a good thing if I’ll be able to win, but for now, we are not sure about the place.

“But definitely if we’re going to bring it, we’re going to bring it to somewhere where it’s going to be a lot of people watching, and we’re gonna put a lot of pressure on Nick.”

Sabalenka has been the dominant force in women’s tennis over the past year, despite not winning a major so far in 2025, and has been in impressive form at the US Open.

Kyrgios, on the other hand, has not stepped onto the singles court since March, and has only played one doubles match since the Australian Open.

Kyrgios is being arrogant and condescending

Kyrgios is being arrogant to think he can walk out of what is essentially retirement to beat Sabalenka without even trying.

Sabalenka is at the top of her game, playing astonishing tennis. She is capable not only of serving 114mph but also hitting 80mph groundstrokes – a speed that would put her in good company in the men’s game.

1-2 punch on point for Aryna 👊#RolandGarrospic.twitter.com/kvR4PQ1l53

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 5, 2025

When Kyrgios does interviews, saying: “She’s the type of player that, she genuinely thinks she’s going to win” it does little more than come across as condescending.

Kyrgios is arrogant, there is little debate about that, but it feels a bit misplaced when he has managed to finish just three doubles and three singles matches in 2025. He stepped out on court two other times but had to retire through injury.

Men typically have more time on the tennis court when playing their shots, even if the stats of the top women, like Sabalenka, show that they can hit the ball just as hard.

At the 2024 US Open, Sabalenka’s average forehand speed stood at 80mph, more than Novak Djokovic’s 76mph from the same tournament, although not with the same level of spin.

Of course, the match is little more than a publicity stunt, with Kyrgios even letting slip in the interview with Alexander Bublik on YouTube that he and Sabalenka are with the same agency.

Ultimately, the 2025 “Battle of the Sexes” will be significantly different to those that preceded it. When Bobby Riggs took on Margaret Court and Billie Jean King, it was more than 20 years since his professional retirement, whereas Kyrgios, who unlike Rigg has never won a major, is still considered a current player.

King was also battling for equal pay, earning substantially more from the exhibition than her tour matches, while Sabalenka has won more than £5m in prize money on top of various sponsorship deals.

Would it not be better for Kyrgios to focus on a return to the court rather than an exhibition designed to – at least in part – appeal to an audience who already believe men’s tennis is superior?

‘Battle of the Sexes’ – a potted history

The Battle of the Sexes most commonly refers to Billie Jean King’s showdown with 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in 1973.

On that occasion, around 31,000 people crammed into the Houston Astrodome to watch a $100,000 winner-takes-all contest, with more than 100 million watching on television.

King, then aged 29 and in the peak of her tennis career, won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 against Riggs.

The occasion itself was a rematch after Riggs had beaten Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 a few months earlier in the first Battle of the Sexes in California.

There was also a third, between Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors in 1992 in Las Vegas, which Connors won 7-5, 6-2.

A fourth was mooted, although it never came to be, between John McEnroe and Serena Williams.

The concept arose in 2015 when McEnroe claimed he could beat Williams in a match, and he reiterated this in 2017 by stating she would be ranked around “700 in the world” if she played on the men’s circuit. Williams publicly responded to this, asking McEnroe to “respect me and my privacy”.