Aryna Sabalenka is backing herself to come out on top in her ‘Battle of the Sexes’ exhibition match against Nick Kyrgios by embracing the unknown in Dubai.
The women’s World No. 1 meets Australian maverick Kyrgios on Sunday, emulating one of the most famous tennis matches in history when Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome in 1973.
The three-set match will use modified rules that see each player restricted to one serve only, Sabalenka’s side of the court being reduced in size by nine per cent and a 10-point deciding tie-break if needed.
The Coca-Cola Arena rivals are to put their off-court friendship on pause for the day with Sabalenka confident of her chances while acknowledging she is entering unfamiliar territory.
When asked who is going to win, the 27-year-old four-time Grand Slam winner immediately replied: “Me.
“This event is really unpredictable. I don’t know what to expect and that’s what I love because this is the feeling that you chase when you play sport.
“I love to challenge myself and this is a huge challenge, especially playing against Nick, a guy who is unpredictable and crazy.
“It’s great training for me and a great message to the girls out there — I hope they will see how strong and tough I am by playing against a guy.”
Kyrgios has been limited to just five singles matches this year because of injuries, the most recent of which was in March, and the 30-year-old is currently ranked 673 in the world.
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“I’ve seen some pretty scary opponents on my time. I’m well equipped and I know that Aryna has got some serious weapons at her disposal,” Kyrgios said.
“But I have come here prepared and ready. If you know me, you know how unpredictable I am, but I’m as well prepared as I possibly could be. I feel like I’m going to win.
“I haven’t won a Grand Slam but I’ve walked out in a Grand Slam final. This is something completely different, I don’t know how my body or my mind will react.
“It’s a completely different energy. I’m going to bring something different, for sure. My strength has always been my unpredictability, even on the men’s tour.
“Guys like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have struggled with not understanding how to play me at certain times because even I don’t know what I’m going to do at certain times.
“I’m going to bring something she hasn’t seen before. I’ll play the style of tennis that I know is effective.”
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