Aryna Sabalenka hypes up ‘Battle of the Sexes’ chances against Nick Kyrgios: ‘Kick his a**’
Aryna Sabalenka says her scheduled exhibition match against former world No 13 Nick Kyrgios is a ‘cool idea’, adding that she will do her best to try and ‘kick his a**.’
The Belarusian and the Australian are set to compete in a ‘Battle of the Sexes’ exhibition match during the first week of January, prior to the Australian Open, in Hong Kong.
The clash aims to rejuvenate a style of encounter which was previously represented in Billie Jean King’s historic victory over Bobby Riggs during the second edition of the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ in September 1973.
King’s victory was seen as a step forward for women’s presence in sport, despite the 26-year age gap between the two, being watched by ninety million viewers worldwide.
“Well I think it’s a cool idea, you know. It’s going to be spectacular to watch, it’s going to be fun, especially against someone like Nick,” Sabalenka commented, during her post-match press conference at the US Open.
“Like he said in another interview, that I genuinely think I’m going to win.
“And I’ll definitely go out there and try my best to kick his a**.
“It’s going to be a good thing if I beat him.
“For now we are not sure about the place but if we’re going to bring it, we’re going to bring it to somewhere where there’s going to be a lot of people watching and we’re going to put a lot of pressure on Nick.”
The exhibition match will see Kyrgios only possessing one serve, whilst also having to play into a smaller court compared to Sabalenka.
The Australian has not played a singles match since the Miami Open in March, during a 7-6(3), 6-0 loss to Karen Khachanov.
Kyrgios has struggled with wrist issues since 2023, after undergoing ‘full reconstructive’ surgery, playing just five singles matches this season.
Sabalenka, on the other hand, has reached multiple Grand Slam finals in 2025 and is currently leading both the WTA rankings and the Race to Riyadh.
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“Getting to know her, she’s definitely a character,” Kyrgios said about Sabalenka on the First & Red podcast, alongside Alexander Bublik.
“I’m super excited for that. I think she’s the type of player who genuinely thinks she’s going to win.
“She [Sabalenka] is not gonna beat me. Do you really think I have to try 100 per cent? I’m going to try. Because I’m representing the men’s side. I’d say like 6-2 maybe.
“I’m not going to go there and say, ‘Oh, she’s so good, I can’t play this.’ That would make me look so bad. I’d imagine the internet would go crazy — go bananas.
“I mean, our serves, women can’t really return those. And then we can just chip and drop shot.
“You [Bublik] can drop shot, they would have no idea. I think I’m going to be okay. I’m going to go there, and I don’t want her to win. That’s for sure.”
