DUBAI: World number one Aryna Sabalenka and Austra­lian Nick Kyrgios said they were excited about facing the unknown when they meet in Sunday’s “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition match that has divided opinion in the tennis world.

Sunday’s showdown bet­ween four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka and former world number 13 Kyrgios is seen by many as entertainment, but critics believe it risks undermining women’s tennis by trivialising decades of progress toward equality. The duo said they were not paying too much attention to the debate surrounding the contest at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena.

“This event is really unpredictable, and I don’t know what to expect,” Sabalenka told reporters on Saturday. “That’s what I love because this is the feeling you chase when you play sport, these unpredictable situations, and I love to challenge myself. For me, it’s a huge challenge, especially playing Nick, the guy who’s unpredictable and crazy.

“That’s great training for me and that’s a great message to the girls out there. I hope they’re going to watch, and they’re going to see how strong and tough I am to have the guts to challenge myself to play against the guy.”

In the original 1973 “Battle of the Sexes”, women’s trailblazer Billie Jean King beat then 55-year-old former Grand Slam champion Bobby Riggs, who had maintained that women’s tennis was inferior to the men’s game.

King recently told the BBC that while the Dubai match shared the same banner it did not have as much riding on it as her clash with Riggs. Her contest was a battle for social change in a vastly different cultural era, she said.

Back then, there was far more at stake with the nascent women’s professional tour, set up by King, fighting for its legitimacy and prize money for female players still far lower than for the men. Beyond the tennis court, women struggled for equal rights in almost every aspect of life. Sabalenka agreed.

“They were trying to fight for different things. We’re here to bring tennis to another level, and to bring attention to our sport, to help our sport grow,” she said. “I feel like women have already proved that we deserve equal and tomorrow, I’ll just show that we are capable of putting up a great fight against a man and have fun.”

Kyrgios said the world needed more collaborative efforts like his match against Sabalenka.

“There’s too much division and too much fighting and not enough teamwork,” he added. “So regardless of the outcome, obviously I’m not saying I don’t want to win, but I want to win. I think it shows that we can do some pretty incredible things together in sport.”

While Riggs had retired from the men’s tour when he faced King, Kyrgios is still active player on the ATP circuit. And only few believe Sabalenka can repeat that success even against Kyrgios, who once reached 13 in the world but has played just six main draw matches over the last three seasons and is now ranked 671 on the ATP Tour.

“A guy ranked No. 1000, or who doesn’t even have a ranking, can be far superior to a top-10 player on the WTA Tour,” former women’s world number one Garbine Muguruza told Spain’s Cope radio. “When I was at my best, as world No. 1, a junior could beat me,” added the former Wimbledon and French Open champion.

The organisers have attempted to balance the duel, which will be played best of three sets, by tweaking some rules.

For example, both players will have only one serve, and Sabalenka’s half of the court will be nine percent smaller in area than Kyrgios’s.

But even the reduced court is unlikely to make much difference.

King’s pioneering work off the court paid off: women now receive equal prize money to the men at each of the four majors.

On Sunday there is nothing at stake other than likes, shares, broadcast ratings and cold, hard cash.

“The only reason they are putting this on is because their management company has gone, ‘we’re going to make a bit of money here.’ But what is in this for women’s tennis?” six-time Grand Slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs said on her tennis podcast.

Perhaps it is the deliberate decision to call it the “Battle of the Sexes” which has drawn the ire of so many and despite her many reservations King is still hoping for a similar outcome as her match.

“I hope it’s a great match,” said the 1973 winner. “I want Sabalenka, obviously, to win — but it’s just not the same.”

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2025