'Ridiculous' Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios match slammed by former player

Wednesday, 12 November 2025 at 13:45

byJordan Reynolds

Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios's confirmed Battle of the Sexes match has drawn polarized reactions. Former ATP pro Steve Johnson did not hide his feelings about it.

The match between the WTA world No. 1 and ATP No. 658 will be played on December 28th in Dubai. Both players expressed excitement about the contest and outlined their respect for each other as competitors.

It will be the fourth significant Battle of the Sexes edition. The most famous occurred in 1973 between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Jean King's victory is broadly seen as a significant moment in the acceptance of women's tennis.

Although some like the idea, others are less impressed. Critics believe the lowly-ranked and usually injured Kyrgios beating Sabalenka, despite rule modifications like her having a bigger court to hit into, would damage the WTA's reputation.

Another point of contention is Kyrgios's previous admission in court that he pushed his ex-girlfriend. Although he avoided a conviction for that action, some still do not want someone with that history to play the WTA's No. 1.

In response, Sabalenka said she sees the match as a win/win scenario since Kyrgios will be expected to win by many and she can try to make things uncomfortable for him. However, the Belarusian admitted that losing sets 6-0 would look bad.

Johnson spoke bluntly on the Nothing Major Podcast. He doubts that Kyrgios will try properly, since it could make the match one-sided, and has no intention of watching something he considers a waste of time.

"I think it’s ridiculous to be honest. If they’re going to play, just play all out. If not, I’m just saying I think this whole thing is ridiculous. There’s no need to do it. We’re going to get nowhere with this, especially if you’re going to change serves, parameters, courts. The effort from Nick is always going to be a question mark and that’s it. I don’t know, like I’m not going to watch a second of it to be honest."

Jack Sock and Sam Querrey have mixed reactions to Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios's match

In an episode of the Nothing Major Podcast, Jack Sock talked about the upcoming Battle of the Sexes match between his former doubles partner, Nick Kyrgios, and Aryna Sabalenka. Sock thinks it is good for the sport to try new things, but is unsure about possible rule changes.

"I would probably assume, I probably won’t be watching much of it. Obviously, if I’m around for sure I’ll tune in just to see what it looks like…I think always growing the sport, always doing new things, always adding an exho or some element to the game of some event, I think is great."

"It seems like there’s a lot of fans, people love tennis over in Dubai. So I’m sure the crowd will be great. I’m not sure about a smaller court on one side and one serve. I think it could be a little strange."

Querrey does not think Kyrgios will try at 100%, and would prefer the 2022 Wimbledon men's singles runner-up to give maximum effort to see what happens.

"I’m excited for it. My only issue is I don’t trust Nick to try. I would love Nick to just play a normal match, two out of three serves, normal court, and just like Nick, try as hard as you can. Let’s see what happens. There’s zero chance that happens with Nick."