Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka “battled” last week, but few of the winners of the Dubai showdown have completely failed to make it.
Let’s talk about the latest “Battle of the Sexes,” shall we? Nick Kyrgios, who is semi-retired and ranked No. 671 in the world (but a Wimbledon finalist) replaced the current WTA No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka. As you can see from the post on X below, the field was uneven in size for both players. Kyrgios “won” 6-3, 6-3.
At first glance, it’s just another in a long line of off-season publicity stunts designed to make money for promoters and athletes and leave the tennis pros rolling our eyes.
Remember the half clay court that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal built?
Or the time they played on a floating tennis court in Doha?
At best, they were silly spectacles that caught the attention of the casual fan and traded on the general popularity of the ATP’s most famous stars and their almost legendary rivalry. At worst it was a harmless, meaningless expropriation of the promoters.
The Battle of the Sexes, held on December 28 was not one of those things. It wasn’t just a silly spectacle, it didn’t trade on anyone’s universal popularity, and it wasn’t harmless or pointless. The only thing I can agree with is that it was a money grab. It was like that.
For context, if you don’t know the history of tennis, we already had the War of the Sexes back in 1973. Billie Jean King, at 28 and in her prime, faced Bobby Riggs, a 55-year-old chauvinist who had been retired for 22 years and spent his time undermining women’s tennis at every opportunity. King won the show in straight sets.
Did this prove that women and men should play against each other professionally? Of course it didn’t happen. What it did was provide the car and frame. That women’s tennis should not be dismissed as “less than”. That a woman’s sporting event can draw an audience (50 million reported audience members, to be exact). That professional female athletes should be taken seriously. The first battle of the sexes did all those things while the world watched.
This NEW gay war has done nothing but set us back. What point did it prove? Nothing important – except to confirm what Serena Williams has said many times, namely that men’s and women’s tennis are different sports.
WE HAVE ANSWERED THESE QUESTIONS. Yes, women’s tennis is important. No, it doesn’t need to be compared to men’s tennis. Sure as hell you don’t need to argue with ATP to get some kind of confirmation.
Long ago people believed otherwise. That’s not the case anymore. When Serena was playing well, she was the dominant player. Not a WTA headliner – an official US Open prime time slot headliner. In short, the tennis star was a woman. A brilliant tennis player, an expert in sales.
And instead of celebrating Coco Gauff taking Serena’s mantle, we have a match played on a court that was bigger on one side than the other and the current world number 2 is being beaten by a part-time unmotivated commentator who doesn’t even like tennis.
Sorry. Does my disdain show? Stop messing with me.
