The Battle of the Sexes 2.0 with tweaked rules: “I’m going to kick his ass”

The Coca-Cola Arena will host today (8 a.m. ET on Movistar+) what has been dubbed the seventh “battle of the sexes 2.0” in tennis.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, 27, will face Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, 30, a once-brilliant talent who has spent months talking up the challenge. It is an exhibition, but one that revives the perennial question of whether an elite female player can compete with a male opponent in a hybrid event somewhere between a serious match and a marketing exercise – the two players share the same representation agency, Evolve.

The challenge comes with two special features known as “equalization rules.” The court has been modified so that Sabalenka’s side is 9% smaller, intended to compensate for differences in speed and power, and both players will have only one serve – no second serve – to neutralize Kyrgios’s biggest weapon. The match will be best of three sets, with a 10-point super tie-break if needed.

“I’ll go out and show the world that, as good as Aryna is, she has some weaknesses. She relies heavily on her game and is very aggressive under pressure – I’ll win easily,” said Kyrgios, mixing bravado with a more serious tone. “I know my role here might be the villain. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous. The whole world will be watching. Aryna’s tried to distract me with the nightlife here, but I’m staying focused.”

Sabalenka responded with irony. “Originally I was supposed to have two serves and him one, but he got so stressed and worked up that he ended up taking one away from me. Even so, I’m going to kick his ass,” she joked. Then, more seriously, she added: “Nick is one of the most talented and unpredictable players in tennis, and he brings an intensity and entertainment that fans love. I enjoy challenges that push the sport in new directions. This match is competitive, fun, and played on a great stage.” Laughter and apparent good vibes have marked the buildup, though it is clear both want to win. For Sabalenka, victory would make her only the second woman to do so, after Billie Jean King’s famous triumph in 1973 against Bobby Riggs.

Other man vs women tennis contests

Earlier that year, Riggs himself had beaten Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 – Court shares the all-time Grand Slam record with Novak Djokovic, both on 24. Later, Martina Navratilova lost to Jimmy Connors in 1992 (7-5, 6-2), despite being allowed two serves to Connors’s one and use of the doubles alleys. In 1998, Germany’s Karsten Braasch beat both Williams sisters – Serena Williams (6-1) and Venus Williams (6-2). More recently, France’s Yanis Ghazouani Durand defeated Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-2 in an improvised match after Marta Kostyuk withdrew because of the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

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