By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Aryna Sabalenka won’t be messing with mistletoe this holiday season.
The world No. 1 has one post-Christmas wish: face Nick Kyrgios and beat his backside.
The Battle of the Sexes clash between two-time US Open champion Sabalenka and former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios is set for December 28th at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai.
Both players shared the news of the showdown on their Instagram pages today.
Asked about the Battle of the Sexes Showdown 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 genuinely think that I’m going to win, and I’ll definitely go out there, and I’ll try
my best to kick his ass.”
Kyrgios said he wants to see tennis establish more rivalry and “more quackery” and believes this showdown can attract even more interest to the sport.
“Tennis needs more rivalries. Tennis needs more quackery, 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-viewed Battle of the Sexes showdown in history at the Houston Astrodome in 1973. That King conquest came months after Riggs defeated Margaret Court outdoors in a Battle of the Sexes.
Howard Cosell and Hall of Famers Rosie Casals and Gene Scott provided commentary for the Kings-Riggs showdown with Scott, who had played King in one of the first-ever Battle of the Sexes charity exhibitions, famously predicting Riggs “has to dominate.”
In 1992, Jimmy Connors out-dueled Martina Navratilova in a Battle of the Sexes matches of legendary lefties staged in Las Vegas.
Connors later revealed he bet on himself to win that match and delivered victory.
John McEnroe shared the story of how Donald Trump, before he became U.S. President, tried to set up a $1 Million Battle of the Sexes matches pitting the mercurial McEnroe vs. Serena Williams. McEnroe long maintained he would have swept Serena had that match ever come off.
Though that match was never staged, McEnroe did face Venus Williams in a Wimbledon Mixed Doubles match.
Steffi Graf and McEnroe defeated Venus Williams and Justin Gimelstob in that showdown with McEnroe remarking in his memoir when he saw Williams standing so close to return his serve he thought “Show the old man some respect.”
