Aryna Sabalenka remains confident about beating Nick Kyrgios in 'Battle of the Sexes'

Friday, 12 September 2025 at 23:55

byJordan Reynolds

Aryna Sabalenka's confidence ahead of her match with Nick Kyrgios showed no signs of wavering when she spoke about it in a podcast appearance.

Kyrgios and Sabalenka plan to face each other in a 'Battle of the Sexes', a concept that began in the 1970s when Margaret Court and Billie Jean King played Bobby Riggs in 1973. Jean King's win over Riggs is viewed as a significant moment in the history of women's tennis.

Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors also faced each other in 1992, a match the ATP player won 7-5, 6-2. 33 years later, the idea is alive again because of Sabalenka agreeing to play Kyrgios at some point in the future.

Adjustments will be made to give Sabalenka a better chance against the Australian, such as Kyrgios hitting into a smaller court and only one serve for each player, which helps the WTA world No. 1 since her opponent's serve is among the best in tennis history.

Despite those changes in Sabalenka's favor, Kyrgios is not concerned about his chances. In an interview, Alexander Bublik, the 2022 Australian Open runner-up, said he did not need to try 100% against his female counterpart.

Sabalenka, among the fieriest competitors ever seen in tennis and never one to back down from a challenge, responded in a 2025 US Open press conference by saying she will try to kick Kyrgios's ass.

The four-time Grand Slam winner's comments a few days ago on the Jay Shetty Podcast were similar. She repeated how much she wants to beat Kyrgios and cheekily said the ATP might wish Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were playing instead of him.

"Well, Nick, you've got to be ready. You better be ready. Yeah - I'm going to kick your a**. I think the ATP are going to cancel the battle. If it's happening, let it be like Jannik (Sinner, world No. 2), or Carlos (Alcaraz, world No. 1), but not Nick. This is turning into like a boxing match, it feels like."

Sabalenka also hilariously said she might send Kyrgios some drinks before the match, so he is off his game. The Belarusian reiterated that each player's court sizes will differ for the encounter.

"Yeah, I’ll make sure I send him some drinks before the battle, just so, you know. Yeah, you know, I’m going to make sure he’s not ready. He has a smaller area to hit, and I think we are going to have one serve each. That's it."

The match, whenever it occurs, is sure to generate considerable attention. Opinions vary on whether Sabalenka's agreement to it is good for women's tennis. Some approve of it since it promotes the WTA Tour to a large audience.

Others believe that Sabalenka losing to Kyrgios, despite having the rules changed in her favor, could damage women's tennis reputation and give trolls and haters ample chance to ridicule it.