Sabalenka will face Kyrgios at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on December 28 for a new iteration of the ‘Battle of the Sexes’. The most famous battle took place in September 1973, when tennis icon Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs.
There have been two other official ‘Battle of the Sexes’ – Riggs defeated Margaret Court in May 1973, and Jimmy Connors beat Martina Navratilova in 1992.
Sabalenka and Kyrgios’ contest has sparked mixed reactions, as some have questioned whether it will undermine women’s tennis – and whether there’s a point.
But Sabalenka believes that it can only be a win-win situation for her. She told The National: “I just want to play my best tennis and put him in a very uncomfortable situation, because for him it’s lose-lose, you know?
“If you win against the girl, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, congrats, well done’. If you lose against the girl, then it’s, you know, ‘Come on, Nick!’
“And for me, it’s win-win. If I win, that’s like, okay, we have something to talk about. And if I lose, I mean, I just hope that I’m not going to lose 6-0. And if I lose, that it’s a tight battle, and I just want to force him to go crazy on court.
“I totally understand the responsibility of this match that I, in a way, put on my shoulders. And that’s why I’ll go out there, and there’s no jokes. I’ll play full. And hopefully, I can just keep up with Billie Jean and probably help women’s tennis to get better conditions.”
Sabalenka is also eyeing some assistance from 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic. The pair have formed a close bond in recent months, joining forces on the practice court and even going on double dates.
Should the Olympic gold medallist help Sabalenka out, she’s hoping it only makes things worse for Kyrgios, who reached a career-high of No. 13 in 2016 but has dropped outside of the world’s top 650 after taking some lengthy injury breaks.
The recent US Open champion added: “I really hope to bring him into my box and be my coach just to put an extra pressure on Nick. I already told Nick, like, ‘Nick, you know what, Novak is really helping me, with the tactics and everything’.
“Which his reply was like, ‘Well, he always struggled with me’. But I was like, ‘But he always won. So, you know what? Probably you’re going to struggle against me as well’. So I really hope that I’ll