Nick Kyrgios had challenged Aryna Sabalenka for match in September 2025
Top-ranked women's player agreed, leading to return of 'Battle of the Sexes'
There will be one serve for each player instead of two, a nine percent smaller court for Sabalenka
The latest edition of the controversial 'Battle of the Sexes' exhibition tennis event pits Aryna Sabalenka against Nick Kyrgios at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday (December 28). The top-ranked women's singles player will meet the Australian oddball after the latter challenged Sabalenka during the US Open in September 2025.
Genesis Of Battle Of The Sexes 2025
Claiming that women cannot return professional men’s serves, Kyrgios had chirped: "Do you really think I have to try 100%?" Sabalenka took up the challenge gamely, stating, "I’ll try my best to kick his ass".
The result was this reprise of the iconic 1973 showdown, in which Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs. Evolve, the sports agency co-founded by tennis star Naomi Osaka putting on the event, has promoted it as a sequel to that historic King-Riggs match, but the trailblazing former world number one did not look at it like that.
Billie Jean King's Reaction To 'Sequel'
"The only similarity is that one is a boy and one is a girl. That's it. Everything else, no. Ours was about social change; culturally, where we were in 1973. This one is not," King told BBC Sport. "I hope it's a great match - I want Sabalenka, obviously, to win - but it's just not the same," she added.
Interestingly, Sabalenka agreed with King. "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 at the pre-match press conference. "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."
Playing Conditions
The match will be a best-of-three sets affair, with some rules tweaked. For instance, there will be one serve for each player instead of two, a nine percent smaller court for Sabalenka, and a 10-point tiebreak will decide the encounter if it goes into a third set.
"Just because the court is going to be shorter, he's not going to go for bigger strokes, and I'll be always in attacking mode," Sabalenka said.
The man in question is currently ranked No. 673 on the tour. Kyrgios, a former Wimbledon runner-up, has been plagued by injuries over the last few seasons, and has played only five professional singles matches in 2025. Nevertheless, the event has come under criticism from tennis experts and feminists, who believe the event would do a disservice to the women's game as well as the movement for equality.
Meanwhile, Indian sports technology startup KPro will be the Artificial Intelligence partner for the match. KPro will deploy its computer vision and biomechanics-based systems to analyse player movement, reaction time, and execution in real time without the use of wearables.
Aryna Sabalenka Vs Nick Kyrgios, Battle Of The Sexes 2025: Live Streaming Info
When and where will the Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios, 'Battle of the Sexes' 2025 match be played?
The Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios, 'Battle of the Sexes' 2025 match will be played at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday, December 28, 2025 at 9:15pm IST.
Where will the Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios, 'Battle of the Sexes' 2025 match be telecast and live streamed?
The Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios, 'Battle of the Sexes' 2025 match will be live streamed on the SonyLIV app and website in India. It will not be telecast on any TV channel in the country.
