Tennis great Billie Jean King says the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios is “not the same” as her era-defining meeting with Bobby Riggs.
American King famously beat self-proclaimed chauvinist Riggs 6-4 6-3 6-3 in Houston in September 1973 for a winner-take-all prize of $100,000 (£74,765).
An estimated 90 million people worldwide watched King, then aged 29, win the best-of-five set match against a 55-year-old former Wimbledon and US Open singles champion – and it is remembered as a key part of the women’s rights movement and push for equality in sport.
World number one Sabalenka, 27, will face 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios, 30, in Dubai on 28 December in a match being billed under the same ‘Battle of the Sexes’ banner.
Asked if she saw any similarities between the matches, King told BBC Sport: “The only similarity is that one is a boy and one is a girl. That’s it.
“Everything else, no. Ours was about social change; culturally, where we were in 1973. This one is not.
“I hope it’s a great match – I want Sabalenka, obviously, to win – but it’s just not the same.”
Some see the encounter between four-time major singles champion Sabalenka and Australia’s former world number 13 Kyrgios as harmless entertainment, but others believe it could belittle the women’s game if Sabalenka loses.
The exhibition will be the best of three sets, with a 10-point tie-breaker if it goes to a decider.
Each player will only receive one serve, while Sabalenka’s side of the court will be 9% smaller after tournament organisers Evolve said data showed female players move about 9% slower on average than their male counterparts.
“I played Bobby three out of five sets, I played on a court and didn’t change anything,” recalled King.
“I said, ‘look, I play straight up or else I’m not going to play’. And Bobby loved it.”
King’s contest took place a few months after Riggs – who died in 1995 aged 77 – had soundly beaten world number one Margaret Court 6-1 6-2 in the first ‘Battle of the Sexes’ matches.
It was played in the same year King founded the Women’s Tennis Association, and three years after a group of players, dubbed The Original 9, broke away from the sport’s establishment.
It also took place at the time of Title IX legislation in the US, which prohibited sex-based discrimination in any school or education programme, and gave male and female athletic teams equal benefits, opportunities and treatment.
“Mine was really political. It was rough, culturally, what was coming in with it,” added the 82-year-old King.
“I knew I had to beat him for societal change. I had a lot of reasons to win.”
Sabalenka told the BBC on Wednesday her match will not damage women’s sport, saying she and Kyrgios are “there to have fun and bring great tennis”.
“Whoever wins, wins,” added the Belarusian.
Kyrgios’ suitability for the match has also been questioned. He admitted assaulting an ex-girlfriend in 2021 and shared a post from controversial influencer Andrew Tate last year, before later distancing himself from the self-proclaimed misogynist.
Asked whether she thought the match could undermine women’s tennis and the status of its number one player, King said: “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask her [Sabalenka] after she plays, but we have never said we are better than men – ever.
“We have talked about our entertainment value – sometimes a women’s match ends up being better than a guy’s match.
“I get upset when people say you think you are better. We have never said that, never.”
The match between Sabalenka and Kyrgios will be shown live on the BBC.
