Battle of the Sexes: How Sabalenka–Kyrgios match strips politics from a historic feminist moment
Tennis legend Billie Jean King distinguishes the upcoming "Battle of the Sexes" exhibition between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios from her historic 1973 match. King emphasizes her original contest was pivotal for social change and women's rights, a stark contrast to the current event, which she deems apolitical and primarily for entertainment and profit, questioning its benefit to women's tennis.
Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Nick Kyrgios attend a press conference prior to the Battle of the Sexes match between Nick Kyrgios of Australia and Aryna Sabalenka at Atlantis The Royal on December 27, 2025 in Dubai, UAE. (Photo/Getty Images)
Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios will meet in the "Battle of the Sexes" on Sunday, but the only similarity between the Dubai exhibition and the historic 1973 match is the name, according to Billie Jean King.The women’s world No. 1 Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, will face Kyrgios, currently ranked outside the top 600 on the men’s tour, in a widely promoted exhibition that has divided tennis followers.The title recalls the September 1973 meeting between King and Bobby Riggs, a match that altered the course of women’s tennis and sport more broadly.At the time, women’s professional tennis was still establishing itself.
King and her peers were fighting for recognition, stability and better prize money, with women earning far less than men. Beyond sport, women were also battling for equal rights across society."It’s not the same thing," King, now 82, told the BBC."Ours was about social change... This one is not."Mine was really political. It was rough, culturally, what was coming in with it."I knew I had to beat him for societal change.
I had a lot of reasons to win."King, then at the peak of her career, defeated the 55-year-old Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in front of 30,000 spectators at the Houston Astrodome, with an estimated 90 million watching on television.Few believe Sabalenka can repeat that outcome, even against Kyrgios, who once reached a career-high ranking of 13 but has played only six main-draw matches over the past three seasons and is now ranked 671.
Why the two contests are worlds apart
Evolve, the agency behind the Dubai event, has promoted the match as a sequel to the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes".However, there are key differences. The rules will not be the same, with changes to court dimensions, service limits and scoring formats.The wider political and cultural settings also differ sharply. King’s victory has long been seen as a feminist moment that challenged sexism in sport. In contrast, neither Sabalenka nor Kyrgios appears to be playing for anything beyond the match itself.That has raised questions about whether women, and women’s sport more broadly, stand to gain anything from this exhibition.
When tennis was about social change
The early 1970s feminist movement in the United States saw women demand better rights, opportunities and freedoms. Sport was part of that struggle.Women’s tennis played a leading role. King and others formed their own tour, unionised and pushed for equal prize money, including at the US Open.Riggs, a former champion who described himself as a "male chauvinist pig", argued that men deserved higher pay. He repeatedly challenged King to play him, claiming women could not match even an ageing male player.King initially refused, saying later: "We didn’t need him; we were making it on our own merits."After Riggs defeated Margaret Court earlier in 1973, King felt compelled to step in. Her straight-sets win over Riggs became a wider symbol of women’s ability to compete and succeed when given the chance."It wasn’t about tennis," King later said. "It was about social change."