Iga Swiatek makes feelings clear on Sabalenka vs Kyrgios after snubbing match | Tennis | Sport
Iga Swiatek has stated that “women’s tennis stands on its own” after WTA No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faced Nick Kyrgios in a match billed as the Battle of the Sexes. Staged last week in the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, Sabalenka suffered a 6-3 6-3 defeat to former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios – and she’s already called for a rematch.
Sabalenka vs Kyrgios was the fourth official woman vs man tennis match given the Battle of the Sexes title. The contest used unique rules, with the court dimensions being nine per cent smaller on Sabalenka’s side, while both players had just one serve each. But Swiatek claimed it was not needed to promote the women’s game.
In the most famous Battle of the Sexes staged in September 1973, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in three straight sets. And six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek believes Sabalenka and Kyrgios’ version beared no resemblance to the iconic clash.
The world No. 2 has a fierce rivalry with Sabalenka, but chose not to watch the Belarusian in action against Kyrgios, who has slipped outside of the world’s top 600 following years of injury struggles.
Speaking at the United Cup – a mixed-gender team tournament – Swiatek said: “No, I haven’t watched, because I don’t watch stuff like that. I think for sure it attracted, like, a lot of attention.
“It was an entertainment, but I wouldn’t say that had anything to do with, like, social change or any important topics. I think the name was just the same as the one from the Billie Jean King match in ’73. That’s it.”
Swiatek, who previously spent a total of 125 weeks as the WTA world No. 1, believes that women’s tennis doesn’t need to be compared to the men’s game.
She continued: “There were no more similarities because I feel like women’s tennis stands on its own right now. We have so many great athletes and great stories to present, we don’t necessarily need to, like, compare to men’s tennis. It’s a totally different story.
“I think, honestly, yeah, there doesn’t need to be any competition. I think actually events like this one, United Cup, brings tennis all together, and WTA fans and ATP fans can watch this event with so much excitement. Seeing also singles players that usually don’t have space to play mixed doubles together, playing these kind of matches, I think this is actually what makes our sport much more interesting and better.
“So yeah, I haven’t watched the match. I only know about how it looked like. But I think, yeah, it was for sure nice entertainment and an exho match between these two.”
World No. 11 Belinda Bencic shared a similar sentiment. “My personal opinion is that it shouldn’t have been called Battle of the Sexes, because that was something else. Yeah, it was a nice exhibition,” the 2020 Olympic champion said of Sabalenka’s match against Kyrgios.
Sabalenka, however, has already hit back at criticism of her exhibition match against Kyrgios. Speaking after she lost in Dubai last week, the four-time Major winner said: “I felt like we just brought more attention to our sport and I don’t see how it can be bad, how you can talk negative about this.”
