{"id":1073,"date":"2025-11-04T15:58:48","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T15:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=1073"},"modified":"2025-11-04T15:58:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T15:58:48","slug":"sabalenka-to-battle-kyrgios-in-battle-of-the-sexes-tennis-match-tennis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=1073","title":{"rendered":"Sabalenka to battle Kyrgios in \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 tennis match | Tennis News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>World number one Aryna Sabalenka will face ex-Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a male vs female contest in the UAE later this year.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 4 Nov 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">4 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Women\u2019s world number one Aryna Sabalenka will take on Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios in a \u201cBattle of the Sexes\u201d exhibition match in Dubai on December 28, organisers announced on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka, 27, will face Kyrgios in a modern rendition of tennis icon Billie Jean King\u2019s 1973 showdown with fellow American Bobby Riggs, which turned out to be a watershed moment for both tennis and the women\u2019s movement.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Played in Houston\u2019s Astrodome, the game was watched by some 90 million who tuned in worldwide to see King storm to a straight-sets victory that propelled the fight for equality in sports.<\/p>\n<p>Aged 55 at the time, Riggs had beaten Australia\u2019s Margaret Court four months earlier before King, aged 29, exacted revenge.<\/p>\n<p>In 1992, eight-time Grand Slam champion Jimmy Connors, then aged 40, beat 18-time major winner Martina Navratilova, then 35, under modified rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have so much respect for Billie Jean King and what she has done for the women\u2019s game,\u201d four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m proud to represent women\u2019s tennis and to be part of this modern take of the iconic Battle of the Sexes match.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka and Kyrgios have teased about the match on numerous occasions in the past few months, with the contest initially slated to be hosted in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p>World number 652 Kyrgios, who has played just five matches this year since returning from a serious wrist injury that kept him out for 18 months, said in September that he could easily beat Sabalenka.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the Australian\u2019s comments during her run to the US Open title, the Belarusian said she was eager to prove Kyrgios wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a lot of respect for Nick and his talent, but make no mistake, I\u2019m ready to bring my A game,\u201d Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n<p>Kyrgios reached a career-high singles ranking of 13 in 2016, and also made it to the final of Wimbledon in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The 30-year-old is a major draw on and off the court at Grand Slams with his natural talent and unapologetic personality, which has also landed him in controversies in the past.<\/p>\n<p>The match will take place at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4082942\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4082942\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4082942\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP25078788523358-1762261939.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Nick Kyrgios reacts.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4082942\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Australia\u2019s Nick Kyrgios has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, but has rarely played in recent years due to constant injury and other off-court commitments [File: Lynne Sladky\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World number one Aryna Sabalenka will face ex-Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a male vs female contest in the UAE later this year. Published On 4 Nov 20254 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Women\u2019s world number one Aryna Sabalenka will take on Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios in a \u201cBattle [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}