tennis legend Billie Jean King He stated that the “Battle of the Sexes” match was played between Arina Sabalenko And Nick Kyrgios It’s “not the same” as his breakthrough reunion with Bobby Riggs.

American King defeated self-proclaimed chauvinist Riggs 6:4, 6:3, 6:3 in a $100,000 winner-take-all match in Houston in September 1973.

An estimated 90 million people worldwide watched the 29-year-old King win the bo5 match against the 55-year-old former Wimbledon and US Open singles champion. The fight is considered an important part of the women’s rights movement and the fight for equality in sports.

World number one Sabalenka, 27, will face Wimbledon 2022 finalist Kyrgios, 30, on December 28 in Dubai. The name of the match was “Battle of the Sexes”.

When asked if he saw any similarities between the matches, King said:

“The only similarity is that one is a man and the other is a woman. That’s it. Everything else is not like that. Our match was about social change, it was about the cultural context of 1973. This match is not about that. I hope the match is great and of course I want Sabalenka to win, but it’s not the same thing.”

Some see the match between four-time Grand Slam singles champion Sabalenka and former world No. 13 Kyrgios as harmless fun, but others believe Sabalenka’s defeat could devalue women’s tennis.

The exhibition match will be played over two sets won and if necessary (1-1 in games) a tiebreaker will be decided up to 10 points.

Each player will serve only once, and Sabalenka’s side of the court will be 9% smaller. Tournament organizers Evolve said women moved around the course an average of 9% slower than men, so it was decided to shorten Arina’s portion of the course.

“I played three bo5 sets with Bobby, on normal court, and didn’t change a thing,” King recalls. “I either play under equal conditions, or I don’t play at all,” I said. And Bobby loved it.”

King’s match came months after Riggs, who died in 1995 aged 77, beat world number one Margaret Court 6-1, 6-2 in the opening match of the Battle of the Sexes series.

The match took place the same year King founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and three years after a group of players known as the “Original Nine” left the tennis body.

The match also took place during the passage of Title IX legislation in the United States, which prohibits gender discrimination in all schools and educational programs and guarantees equal conditions, opportunities, and support for men’s and women’s sports teams.

“My match was really political. It was a very difficult time culturally,” King, 82, added. “I knew I had to defeat him for social change.” “I had many reasons to win.”