'Not gonna beat me': Kyrgios dismisses Sabalenka's hopes in Battle of Sexes match
NewsThursday, 04 September 2025 at 23:45
Nick Kyrgios does not think Aryna Sabalenka has any chance of defeating him when they play their Battle of the Sexes match.
Earlier this year, Kyrgios announced that he and Sabalenka planned to organize a singles match. The concept of a man playing a woman is most remembered for Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs in September 1973, which helped to legitimize women's tennis.
There was also a match between Riggs and Margaret Court in May 1973, won by Riggs, and one between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova in September 1992, won by Connors. Those contests also generated much attention.
Connors and Navratilova's meeting will be the most comparable to Kyrgios and Sabalenka's. Since there is just a five-year age gap between the tennis legends, Connors only had one serve, and Navratilova could hit into some of the doubles alleys.
Kyrgios discussed playing Sabalenka and the changes that will be made to give her a better chance in more detail during an interview with Alexander Bublik. He also outlined his respect for the WTA world No. 1.
"We both have one serve, but my court is smaller. They're going to figure out the dimensions. Me and Sabalenka are in the same agency, and she's awesome, by the way, I got to know her better. I'm super excited for it, and I think she's one of those players who genuinely thinks she is going to win."
Bublik asked Kyrgios if he was going to actually try during the match, wondering if it would be a gimmick that allowed Sabalenka to win, boosting women's tennis in the process. Kyrgios dismissed that and said he would definitely prevail.
"She's not gonna beat me. Do you really think I have to try at 100 percent? No, no. I'm going to try."
Although he is confident of victory, Kyrgios plans to take the match seriously because he will be representing the ATP side, and wants to make sure he plays well and does himself justice whenever the contest occurs.
"Definitely, because I'm representing you, the men's side. Our serves? They can't return our serves, and then we can just chip and drop shot."
Bublik also speaks honestly during interviews
Bublik, who, like Kyrgios, is among the most mercurial characters in tennis, recently generated attention after stunningly criticizing doubles specialists, claiming they are not real players and singles stars laugh at them.
The role of doubles specialists in tennis is a sensitive topic after the new mixed doubles format used at the 2025 US Open. It was held over two days during fan week with shortened matches, designed specifically to attract top singles players.
After a superb season so far, Bublik crashed back to reality with a crushing 1-6, 1-6, 1-6 defeat to Jannik Sinner in the US Open fourth round. A fan tried to steal from Sinner's bag shortly after that match ended.
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