Aryna Sabalenka, Nick Kyrgios To Face Off in 'Battle of the Sexes' Tennis Match

Women's No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is taking on men's No. 652 Nick Kyrgios in an upcoming "Battle of the Sexes" exhibition match in Dubai.

The matchup is set to take place on Dec. 28 at Coca-Cola Arena, according to a Tuesday announcement by the sports and entertainment company TLive.

The competition is being organized by Evolve, the sports agency co-founded by Naomi Osaka which represents both players, according to The Athletic.

Kyrgios, formerly ranked as high as No. 13 by ATP, has been limited for the last three years by injuries that necessitated both wrist and knee surgeries. He played in just five ATP Tour singles matches this season, most recently in March.

He said in September he was confident he could defeat Sabalenka, who is coming off French Open, Wimbledon and US Open victories in 2025, without giving the match his full effort.

"She's the type of player who I think she genuinely thinks she's going to win... she's not going to beat me," Kyrgios said when speaking with Alexander Bublik. "Do you really think I have to try 100 percent? I'm gonna try. I'll focus."

Kyrgios concluded, "I would say 6-2, maybe... Our serves, women can't return. We can just chip and drop shot."

In her opening press conference at the US Open, Sabalenka said in response that she would "definitely go out there and try my best to kick his ass."

"Like he said in another interview, I genuinely think I'm going to win," Sabalenka said.

The most famous Battle of the Sexes took place in 1973, when Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a three-set victory that became a landmark event for tennis.

There have since been other matchups billed under the same title, including Jimmy Connors' two-set win over Martina Navratilova in 1992 and Karsten Braasch's defeat of Serena and Venus Williams ahead of the 1998 Australian Open.