Aryna Sabalenka lost to Nick Kyrgios in the most recent Battle of the Sexes. It was not close.
The male competitor defeated the female competitor in two sets.
Although Sabalenka hit a few good shots, a large number of women found her participation in the cross-gender tennis match to be insulting. Not only did she lose, she had a major advantage in the loss.
Nick Kyrgios defeated Aryna Sabalenka in tennis.
Sabalenka is the No. 1 women’s tennis player in the world. Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up, has played only six tour-level matches in the last three years because of various injuries to his wrist and knee.
On paper, biological advantage aside, the former should be in better form than the latter. And yet, she did not come particularly close to victory.
Don’t get me wrong. Sabalenka got hers. The 27-year-old hit a few shots that Kyrgios could not return. She absolutely smoked this winner during the first set:
Sabalenka SMOKES the winner past Kyrgios 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/sDvpo3qucj
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) December 28, 2025
This forehand on the run left Kyrgios speechless:
Sabalenka leaves Krygios SPEECHLESS 😱
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) December 28, 2025
Can't hit a better forehand on the run 👏 pic.twitter.com/Q852fzI4ek
It’s also not like this was the most serious match of all-time. There was plenty of laughing and joking between the players, over-the-top grunting, and under-arm serves. There was even some dancing!
Aryna does the Macarena 💃 @SabalenkaA pic.twitter.com/GJ4vwGGs1d
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) December 28, 2025
That’s great but “good shots” and “fun had” does not factor into the final score. Nick Kyrgios beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-3.
And that's all she wrote!
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) December 28, 2025
Nick Kyrgios defeats Aryna Sabalenka to win the Battle of the Sexes 👏 pic.twitter.com/9Yysdt6F5V
The unranked male tennis player defeated the top-ranked female tennis player.
The Battle of the Sexes is supposed to represent gender equality.
Although Sunday’s match was mostly focused on entertainment, with tickets selling for as much as $800 a pop, it was still the latest edition of the ‘Battle of the Sexes.’ However, it was nothing like the match in 1973 when Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs. Some women found this version to be insulting.
The rules of the match were different.
- Each player will have one serve, rather than usual two
- Best of three sets
- 10-point match tie-break if it goes to a deciding set
- Each player can have one timeout per set, lasting 60 seconds
Because women are 9% slower to cover the entire tennis court, Sabalenka’s side was also 9% smaller.
That did not go over well with everybody.
“As a woman, this is insulting,” wrote @mikalellen on X. “Beat the boys by their own rules, or don’t play them. That simple. (I love beating the boys with their own rules!) 🤷🏻♀️”
She was not alone in her frustrations. The original Battle of the Sexes was designed to challenge sexist beliefs in an effort to promote gender equality. This latest match was not equal. Sabalenka still lost.