By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Photo: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Aryna Sabalenka not to be confused with mistletoe this holiday season.
The world number 1 has one desire after Christmas: the face Nick Kyrgios and spanked his rear.
The Battle of the Sexes clash between two-time US Open champion Sabalenka and former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios is set for December 28 at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai.
Both players shared the news of the match today on their Instagram pages.
Asked about facing the battle of the sexes at the US Open in September, Sabalenka shared her simple goal.
“It’s going to be fun, especially against someone like Nick,” Sabalenka said. “Like he said in another interview, that I honestly think I’m going to win, and I’m definitely going to go out there and try
my best to kick ass.”
Kyrgios said he wants to see tennis create more rivalries and “more banter” and believes the matchup could draw even more interest to the sport.
“Tennis needs more rivalries. Tennis needs more jokes, like the NBA in the 90s,” Kyrgios said. “You can’t please everyone.
“I’m not friends with many players and I’m not interested in being one.”
Billie Jean King famously defeated Bobby Riggs in the most widely watched bout in history at the Houston Astrodome in 1973. This King conquest came a few months after Riggs defeated Margaret Court outside in a Battle of the Sexes.
Howard Cosell AND Hall of Famers Rosie Casals and Gene Scott provided commentary on the Kings-Riggs showdown with Scott, who had played the King in one of the first Battle of the Sexes charity exhibitions, famously predicting Riggs “must dominate”.
In 1992, Jimmy Connors out-dueled Martina Navratilova in a Battle of the Sexes match of the legendary leftists organized in Las Vegas.
Connors later revealed that he bet on himself to win that match and delivered the win.
John McEnroe shared the story of how Donald Trump, before becoming US President, tried to set up a $1 million Battle of the Sexes match, pitting McEnroe against Mercure against Serena Williams. McEnroe has long maintained that he would have overtaken Serena if that match ever came about.
Although that match was never staged, McEnroe faced Venus Williams in a Wimbledon mixed doubles match.
Steffi Graf and McEnroe defeated Venus Williams and Justin Gimelstob in that encounter with McEnroe commenting in his memoirs that when he saw Williams standing so close to returning his serve, he thought “Show the old man some respect”.
