Kyrgios defeats Sabalenka but Battle of the Sexes veers too close to circus
Nick Kyrgios won tennis’s latest Battle of the Sexes against Aryna Sabalenka in a dispiriting contest in Dubai that veered uneasily between exhibition, gimmick and outright circus.The Australian, who has won only one competitive singles match since the end of 2022 and has slipped to 671 in the world rankings, was sweating heavily and breathing hard as early as the fifth game of the match.Yet to no one’s great surprise, the extreme power of his serve, combined with the spin and velocity of his groundstrokes, proved too much for the women’s No 1 player.“It was a really tough match,” the 30-year-old Kyrgios insisted after his 6-3, 6-3 victory.“ I didn’t know what to expect.
She broke my serve numerous times and honestly she was hitting some amazing shots.She is a hell of a competitor.It could have gone either way.”Not many saw it that way.For while the modified rules of this contest meant that Sabalenka’s side of the court was 9% smaller, that advantage was nullified by both players also being limited to one serve, a change that significantly favoured Kyrgios.
Almost every time the Australian fizzed down one of his howitzers, Sabalenka was left scrambling on the baseline.And while she hit plenty of winners, and often moved better than her opponent, there was always a sense that Kyrgios could step up whenever he wanted.In the first set, the crucial moment came with the Belarusian serving at 40-15 up with the score level at 3-3.From looking in control, she served two faults in a row.Kyrgios sensed blood.
Soon he had broken, held serve, and seen out the set.Kyrgios then appeared distracted as he went 3-1 down in the second set.But despite not moving well, he was able to gain control with a mix of power and junk tennis – especially through his sliced forehands that often had the 27-year-old rushing uncomfortably to the net.And in no time at all, he was able to win five games in a row to wrap things up.But mostly this was a tennis match for those who have only a passing interest in tennis.
During one timeout in the second set, Sabalenka did the Macarena.On another occasion, the public announcer threw tennis balls from a Ralph Lauren bag.Meanwhile on match point, Kyrgios used his 60-second timeout just to get his breath back.Earlier there was also a delay while the stadium PA announced that the former Brazil footballers Kaká and Ronaldo were making their entrance.For a contest that was expressly designed to appeal to the TikTok crowd it seemed a curious choice.
It was all a far cry from the famous Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973.True, Riggs was 55 and a long way past his prime.But the stakes couldn’t have been much higher.King feared that if she lost it would push women’s tennis back 50 years.Yet with every swish of her Wilson Autograph racket, King struck a mighty blow for fairness, equality and social justice.
The Guardian called it “the kind of crushing, tactical, technical and psychological victory that ought to keep the male chauvinists quiet for a long time”.It also popularised tennis in a way that no ordinary match could.The reaction on social media after Kyrgios’s victory suggested that this latest match had done quite the opposite.The misogynists and incels were delighted.Tennis purists appalled.
However Kyrgios, whose fitness looked short of what will be required to play five-setters in the Australian Open, insisted that it would help grow the game.“This is a great stepping stone for the sport of tennis,” he said, before floating the idea of a rematch.“This was all the world was talking about for six months.”Sabalenka also indicated she would like to do it again.“I feel I put on a great fight,” she said.
“He was struggling, he was getting really tired.I feel like next time I play him, I know the tactics, and his strengths and weaknesses.”But ultimately the match told us what we know already.Men have enormous advantages due to puberty, and are faster, stronger and more powerful as a result.Curiously, it was shown live on the BBC, which apologised three times for loss of pictures in the second set.
Beforehand, its analysts, Russell Fuller and Annabel Croft, also sounded defensive when talking about the exhibition nature of the match, Kyrgios’s past – including an assault on a previous girlfriend – and the fact it was promoted by the Evolve player agency, which represents Kyrgios and Sabalenka.This match, they suggested, was more about fun and entertainment than “going toe-to-toe as if it was a grand slam”.Those words were to prove prophetic.Although it did also make you wonder why the BBC had acquired the rights in the first place.
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