Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios, Battle of the Sexes: Date, time, rules and how to watch - All you need to know

Women’s domain No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is go down to human face former Wimbledon finalist snick Kyrgios in a extremely anticipated ‘Battle of the Sexes’ exhibition match at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai on Sunday. The one-off contest is being billed as a modern-day sequel to the iconic 1973 “Battle of the Sexes,” where Billie Jean King famously defeated Bobby Riggs, a moment that reshaped conversations around gender equality in sport.

Kyrgios, who’s currently ranked No. 673 on the men’s tour, threw the challenge at Sabalenka during the US Open in September this year. In an interview, he had said that he could beat the Belarusian without having to try “100 per cent to win”. He even said that women cannot return professional men’s serves.

“I’ll try my best to kick his a**,” Sabalenka said in response to Kyrgios' statement.

“She’s not going to beat me,” Kyrgios responded. “Do you really think I have to try 100 per cent?”

Evolve, a marketing agency co-founded by tennis great Naomi Osaka, that represents both players, then organised the exhibition match. “This is about respect, rivalry and reimagining what equality in sport can look like,” explained Stuart Duguid, Evolve co-founder.

The early 1970s marked a powerful phase of the feminist movement in the United States, as women pushed for equal rights, better opportunities, fair pay, reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy. Sport, too, became a key battleground in that fight. King led the charge in women's tennis. She and her peers formed their own tour and successfully fought for equal prize money at the US Open.

Former Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs, then 55, was not in favour of the movement as he reckoned men deserved higher pay than women and claimed female players were inferior. To prove his point, he even challenged King, then 29, to a battle.

“You can’t beat a top male player,” Riggs taunted. “You can’t even beat me, a tired old man.”

King initially refused, but agreed after Riggs beat then-women's world No. 1 Margaret Court in May 1973. And what followed was one of the sport's most defining moments. In front of 30,000 fans at the Houston Astrodome and an estimated 90 million viewers worldwide, King dismantled Riggs in straight sets.

“It was never just about tennis,” King later reflected. “It was about social change.”

However, unlike the 1973 clash, neither Sabalenka nor Kyrgios seem to be playing for anything beyond the court.

The rules of tennis have been modified for this exhibition match. Both players will have just one serve, instead of two. Sabalenka's court will be 9 per cent smaller than the normal size of a tennis court. And, it will be a best-of-three-sets contest, with a 10-point tiebreaker in the final set if required.

The match is scheduled to begin at 9:15 PM IST, and is available for live stream on the SonyLIV app.

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