The controversial “Battle of the Sexes” between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios takes place this Sunday (28), at 1pm (Brasília time).
The game will be held at the Coca Cola Arena, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and will be broadcast by CazéTVno Youtube.
The exhibition, with critics reckoning that the event could weaken women’s tennis by trivializing decades of progress towards equality.
Furthermore, Kyrgios, former number 13 in the world rankings,
In one of the episodes, when confirming the match against Sabalenka, he mocked his colleague’s abilities,
“She (Sabalenka) has a great personality and is a great tennis player. She’s the type of player who really believes she’s going to win. She’s not going to beat me. Do you really think I have to dedicate myself 100%? (…) I mean, our serves, women can’t return them,” he said on tennis player Alexander Bublik’s podcast.
This Sunday’s duel (28) will have some modified rules to provide balance. Sabalenka’s side of the court will be 9% smaller and both players will only have one serve available at each point.
The game is in the best of three sets format, but the last one, if necessary, will be a ten-point super tie-break.
The only Battle of the Sexes held to date that actively fought for women’s tennis, against Bobby Riggs, in 1973.
