Australian Nick Kyrgios has won the highly anticipated Battle of the Sexes in tennis against world number one Aryna Sabalenka. The 30-year-old sat down in one less spectacular show event in Dubai 6:3, 6:3 against the Belarusian, who is three years younger.
The Kyrgios, who is permanently injuredwho hasn’t played an official match on the tour since March and in the World ranking dropped to 671st place has rarely had serious problems with the currently best tennis player in the world. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist was far from his top physical shape.
“I put up a great fight,” said Sabalenka afterwards Kyrgios indirectly offered a rematch: “I love revenge and I love challenges. I would love to play again.” Kyrgios paid his opponent great respect: “She is such a great champion.”
Criticism from the scene
That the Fun and not seriousness in the foreground Sabalenka’s entrance in a glittering suit to the song “Eye of the Tiger” showed. 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. But there was also plenty of criticism from the tennis scene. Sabalenka and therefore women’s tennis could not win anything in this matchwas one criticism.
Slightly adjusted rules
There were a few changes compared to normal tennis matches. So both protagonists only had one serve. There were no side changes because the Sabalenka’s side of the field is nine percent smaller than Kyrgios’s was. The aim was to create conditions that were as fair as possible.
From an anatomical perspective, men hit harder than womeneven 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 originated in 1973. Bobby Riggs, former world number one and Wimbledon championchallenged the top players at the age of 55. The Australian Margaret Courtthe most successful player in the world at the time, suffered a crushing defeat 2:6, 1:6, which went down in history as the “Mother’s Day Massacre”.
A little later, Billie Jean King won against Riggs. This victory was a huge success for women’s sports. More than 50 million people watched in the USA alone. The spectacle was made into a film in 2017, starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell. (dpa)
