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,battle of the Sexes‘Women’s No. 1 Tennis Exhibition Arina Sabalenka And Nick Kyrgios One will be using a modified court and with a single-serve limit.
Event organisers, the Evolve Agency, which represents both players, confirmed that the court on which Sabalenka will defend will be nine per cent smaller than standard.
In addition, Sabalenka and Kyrgios will both be limited to one serve each at early points, in a move that will force both players to prioritize accuracy over speed and has been introduced to neutralize Kyrgios’ natural advantage in power.
In the press release announcing the match, Evolve said Sabalenka’s court side was reduced by nine percent to “reflect the difference in average stroke-speed between the men and women”.
Sabalenka and Kyrgios will play a best-of-three sets, with match tiebreaks, up to ten points if necessary, deciding the winner. Kyrgios played only five official matches in 2025 due to injury But is aiming to return in 2026 And is planning to enter the Australian Open.
Kyrgios, who is ranked 671st in the world due to his injury, argued for a one-serve limit for both players, while Sabalenka originally had a two-serve limit.
“Originally I had two serves but then he got so stressed that he snatched one,” Sabalenka said. piers morgan uncensored In a joint interview with Kyrgios.
“I feel like if he had two serves and I only had one serve, I would have been down, I’m not even kidding,” Kyrgios said. “It’s going to be tough out there.”
Sabalenka claimed that it would be “really hard” to compete against a male player using full court and standard rules.
“I mean, physically they are very strong, the speed, the power of the balls, everything is very strong,” the world No. 1 said. Piers morgan uncensored.
“So it’s hard to compete, but in these circumstances, like we’re playing with nine percent smaller courts right now, I think, OK, maybe at least I have a higher chance to compete and see if I can win it. And if I can then maybe I’ll go for a regular match.”
The exhibition match, which will take place in Dubai and be broadcast live on the BBC, is an attempt to recreate a modern iteration of the 1973 ‘Battle of the Sexes’, where women’s No. 1 Billie Jean King defeated 55-year-old former men’s No. 1 Bobby Riggs, a self-described “male chauvinist”.
King, who defeated Riggs in straight sets in front of 30,000 people at Houston’s Astrodome, rejected any comparisons between her win over Riggs and the encounter between Sabalenka and Kyrgios, telling the BBC that her victory was about “social change”.
“The only similarity is that there’s a boy and a girl. That’s all,” said King, now 82. “Everything else, no. Our fight was about social change; culturally, where we were in 1973. It’s not. I hope it’s a great match. I want Sabalenka to win, obviously. But it’s not like that.”