Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek has said that the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ clash between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai last Sunday was not needed for women’s tennis. The 25-year-old said that the women’s game had several great athletes and there was no need to compare it with men’s tennis.
She added that while the match gave entertainment to the spectators, it had nothing to do with any social change and was not in any way similar to the clash with the same name between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973.
“I haven’t watched [Sabalenka v Kyrgios] because I don’t watch stuff like that. I think for sure it attracted a lot of attention. It was entertainment, but I wouldn’t say that had anything to do with 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. 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 compare to men’s tennis. Honestly, there doesn’t need to be any competition,” the second-ranked Swiatek said on Saturday.
Kyrgios had defeated Sabalenka in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in the match and the latter later stated that she wanted a rematch with the Australian and sought a different format if it did go through.
The Pole felt that tournaments like the United Cup, which commenced in Perth on Friday, played a role in bringing the tennis fraternity together, admitting that they made the sport more “interesting and better”.
“Events like this one, the United Cup, brings tennis together, and WTA fans and ATP fans can watch this event with so much excitement.”
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“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,” she said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
