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Nick Kyrgios won the latest Battle of the Sexes against Aryna Sabalenka in a contest that veered between intriguing sporting exhibition and outright circus in Dubai.
It was a more even match than many feared. But the Australian, who had only won one competitive singles match since the end of 2022, always looked to have something in hand as he beat the No 1 women’s tennis player 6-3, 6-3.
“It was a really tough match,” Kyrgios said afterwards. “She is a hell of a competitor. It could have gone either way.”
In an attempt to balance the scales, Sabalenka’s side of the court was 9% smaller, while both players were limited to one serve per point. It didn’t matter. Kyrgios not only had the more powerful serve but more spin and bite on his groundstrokes.
Sabalenka entered the court to The Eye of the Tiger, wearing a silver sparkly jacket that would not have look out of place on Strictly Come Dancing. She looked the part. And initially she played the part too, as she held her serve to win the opening game of the match.
Yet when Kyrgios served the difference was obvious. The points were shorter, sharper: the Australian’s power and spin constantly had Sabalenka scrambling.
The crucial moment in the first set came at 3-3, with Sabalenka serving at 40-15 up. From looking in control, her serve deserted her as she served two faults in a row. Kyrgios quickly broke, held for 5-3, and was soon a set up.
Sabalenka is the No 1 player on the WTA rankings. She has won four grand slam titles. And, several times in the match she showed why she is one of the most powerful hitters in women’s tennis history with several impressive winners.
However Kyrgios was frequently able to take her out of her comfort zone with junk tennis, choppy forehands that had her rushing uncomfortably to the net.
And even when Kyrgios was 3-1 down in the second set there was always a sense that he had more levels if he could be bothered to find them. And so it proved as he won the next five games.
But mostly this was tennis for those who have a passing interest in tennis. During one time out in the second set, Sabalenka did the Macarena.
Meanwhile at 4-3 in the first set, the match was paused while the stadium PA announced that the former Brazilian footballers Kaká and Ronaldo were about to make their entrance.
Not that Kyrgios saw it that way afterwards. “This is a great stepping stone for the sport of tennis. Of course I was nervous. This was all the world was talking about for six months. Aryna was up for the challenge. I was under the pump there.”
Sabalenka, meanwhile, insisted that she would like to do it all again. “I felt great,” she said. “I feel I put on a great fight. He was struggling, he was getting really tired. I hit a lot of great shots. I really enjoyed the show. I feel like next time I play him, I know the tactics and his strengths and weaknesses.”
It was all a far cry from the famous Battle of Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973. True, Riggs was 55 and a long way from his prime. But the stakes couldn’t have been much higher.
King feared that if she lost it would push women’s tennis back 50 years. Yet with every swish of her Wilson Autograph racket, King struck a mighty blow for fairness, equality and social justice.
The Guardian called it “the kind of crushing, tactical, technical and psychological victory that ought to keep the male chauvinists quiet for a long time”. It also popularised tennis in a way that no ordinary match could.
This match was never going to do that. Indeed beforehand the BBC’s analysts, Russell Fuller and Annabel Croft, sounded apologetic about the fact this match was an exhibition, and that it was being pushed by the Evolve player agency, which represents both Kyrgios and Sabalenka.
It was, they suggested, more about fun and entertainment than “going toe-to-toe as if it was a grand slam”. All of which was true. Although it did make you wonder why the BBC had acquired to put it on prime time television.
