“Getting scared?” – Aryna Sabalenka Ramps up the Banter with Nick Kyrgios Ahead of Their Controversial ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Match

Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios will face off in the Battle of the Sexes clash in Dubai later this year.

“Getting scared?” – Aryna Sabalenka Ramps up the Banter with Nick Kyrgios Ahead of Their Controversial ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Match

Aryna Sabalenka, Nick Kyrgios (Image via X/AllAboutHQ, Tiempo De Tenis)

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Aryna Sabalenka seems excited about her Battle of the Sexes clash against Nick Kyrgios. Both players are set to face each other in an exhibition match at the Coca-Cola Arena in the United Arab Emirates on December 28, 2025. The World No.1 made a light-hearted joke after Kyrgios posted a picture on Instagram.

Sabalenka is currently enjoying her off-season in the Maldives following an excellent season, during which she won four tour-level titles. However, she still has her mind on the clash against Kyrgios coming up later this year. She will enter the clash as World No.1 in the WTA rankings, while Kyrgios is ranked outside the Top 600 of the ATP rankings.

Kyrgios, who reached a career-high of World No.13, has struggled with injuries for the past three years on tour. He returned to the court earlier this year after being away from the tour for 18 months after suffering a serious wrist injury. This year, he still struggled with the injury and has not played since March.

His last match was at the Miami Open, where he fell to Karen Khachanov. He had claimed an impressive first-round win against Mackenzie McDonald in three sets before the crushing defeat against the Russian star. With no match no professional match in the last couple of months, Kyrgios still believes he can beat Sabalenka.

In the last couple of weeks, he has often bragged that the women’s tennis is completely different from men’s tennis. In fact, he noted that it’s very hard for a female player to deal with a male serve on the court. He backed his comments with a story on Instagram about his upcoming clash against Sabalenka. That then made Sabalenka to mock the Australian star that he was already scared of her:

Getting scared Nick? Still sounds like a piece of cake to me.

Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios 1
Aryna Sabalenka teasing Nick Kyrgios (via Instagram)

Since the Open Era, there have only been three official matches labeled as the Battle of the Sexes. The first took place against Bobby Riggs and Margaret Court, with the tennis legend beating Court. But Billie Jean King then earned revenge for women’s tennis, beating Riggs in 1973.

The last time came in 1992, with 40-year-old Jimmy Connors beating fellow Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova, who was at that time 35. Sabalenka and Kyrgios’ clash will be recorded as the fourth official match in the history of the sport.

Iga Swiatek’s coach believes the Polish star still has an ambition to overtake Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA rankings

Aryna Sabalenka dominated the women’s circuit this season by staying at the top of the WTA rankings from start to finish of the calendar year. She never once dropped from her position at the top despite a good challenge from Iga Swiatek. She ended the season with a more than 2,000-point gap over Swiatek.

Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek
Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Aryna Sabalenka Archive, The Tennis Letter)

However, Swiatek was the World No.1 eighteen months ago, but lost the position last year in October after a run of bad form and a month’s suspension for testing positive for trimetazidine. During an interview with Swiatek’s coach Wim Fissette with Sport.pl, he revealed that the Pole still has an ambition to overtake Sabalenka at the top of the WTA rankings:

Whatever happens, Iga (Swiatek) is already a legend. The priorities haven’t changed; she wants to be the best in the world, that’s the goal of the entire team. We want to win a Grand Slam tournament, or even several. We also aspire to win more victories in the WTA 1000 tournaments. Our intention is to get as close as possible to the world number one spot, and we know perfectly well what we need to do to achieve that.

Sabalenka claimed her only Grand Slam title at the US Open despite reaching three finals this season. While Swiatek reached only one final, that came at the Wimbledon Championships, where she defeated Amanda Anisimova in straight sets. The six-time major champion is expected to be with the Polish team ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup play-offs.

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