The tennis world continues to marvel at the separation of Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero and this surprising news is catching the attention of fans. Divorce, on the other hand, hardly plays a role Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios. The Belarusian and the Australian, whose driving force is petrodollars, will star in a new edition of this Sunday “The Battle of the Sexes.” They will compete at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, starting at 1 p.m. (Argentine time). ESPN and Disney are televised. And there will be a show. Lots of show. Tennis, we’ll see.
In the history of tennis there are five precedents for encounters between a woman and a man, one of which was marked by a fire. It was in 1973 when the legendary Billie Jean King – 30 years old and Wimbledon champion this season – won 6-4, 6-4 and 6-3 against Bobby Riggsa 55-year-old veteran and former champion of Wimbledon (1939) and the US Open (1939 and 1941) who openly despised women’s tennis.
“I think it stinks. They hit the ball from side to side, they hit good volleys and they have nice legs, but compared to men’s tennis it’s night and day.” Riggs, who died in 1995, once said, a little deconstructed. The American had defeated confidently Margaret Smith Court a few months ago, which motivated BJK, now a staunch advocate for women’s rights, to take up the challenge.
As a child, she felt that they were not treated the same way as men, and she used her influence as a multiple Grand Slam champion and icon of American sports to give strength to the biggest fight of her life: “The fight for equal opportunities between boys and girls, women and men.” The American says on her website that she felt incredible pressure to win: “I thought it would take us back 50 years if I lost this game.”
The situation today is completely different. More than 50 years have passed since that meeting at the Houston Astrodome The gigantic growth of women’s tennis became increasingly clear. Spectacular and high-profile finals like the one that Sabalenka herself played at the last Roland Garros against the American Coco Gauff are being repeated on the WTA circuit, plus million-dollar prizes comparable to those of the ATP and growing interest from the public and the media. in crescendo. A win against Kyrgios, the 671st in the world, won’t change that. Not even with a defeat.
“Fifty-two years after the original ‘Battle of the Sexes,’ WTA world number one Aryna Sabalenka challenges great showman and competitor Nick Kyrgios to an epic showdown in Dubai.” This is the sellout of Sunday’s game. In other words, can a woman, even if she is the best in the world, beat an active player of the opposite sex?
Sabalenka, the WA No.1, is the current US Open champion and also reached the finals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros this year, while Kyrgios, victim of injuries and his own instability, played just five matches in the season, winning just one of them. There are no equivalences in this area. Likewise, everything indicates that the 2022 Wimbledon finalist should have no problems winning against the Belarusian. And if that happens to a semi-retired tennis player, it’s easy to imagine how a duel against Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, the current owners of the men’s tournament, would turn out.
The same thing happened when Jimmy Connors 40 years old and at the end of his career he defeated Martina Navratilova with the disadvantage that she only has a single serve and her opponent can use the double lane. Or when Karsten Braasch, 203rd in the world rankings, was unable to find an opponent through confrontation and a comfortable defeat Serena Williams and then her sister Venus, two rising stars in 1998. And there is also the most recent case of the duel between them Mirra Andreeva And Yanis Ghazouani (1145°), the Frenchman who replaced Marta Kostyuk at the last minute after the Ukrainian refused to play against Andreeva because of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Like Riggs back then, Kyrgios also heated up the preview. “I was in Hong Kong recently and a lot of players told me, ‘Look, you represent all of us.’ “So here I am in the firing line again,” he said initially. Then he fired: “It’s funny to me that she actually thinks she can win.” This exhibition has nothing to do with the one in 1973.
Sabalenka’s side of the pitch will be 9% smaller than her rival’s after organizers of this marketing event took into account a study that suggests women move 9% less on the pitch than men. Additionally, to limit the influence of the Australian’s strong serve, both will have a single serve. Limitations and differences aside, it will of course be attractive for everyone to see Kyrgios on the one hand and Sabalenka on the other with all their charisma.
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