Top Australian tennis coach Roger Rasheed has questioned the value of the upcoming “battle of the sexes” exhibition match between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka.
The show, due to take place on December 28 in Dubai, will feature changed rules and has drawn comparisons to the famous 1973 clash between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.
Earlier this week, World number one Sabalenka insisted the match would not harm her career or women’s sport in general.but speaking on ABC Sport’s Summer Grandstand programme, Rasheed said he was “disappointed” that the match was going ahead.
“I’m not a fan of it, to be honest,” Rasheed said.
“I think it’s a lose-lose situation for the women’s team… I actually think it’s quite insulting, to be quite honest.”
Rasheed, who coached Lleyton Hewitt to the Australian Open final in 2005, also questioned how Sabalenka would benefit from the event.
“I don’t see where there is a minute, a second of victory for the world number one player,” he said.
“If you deal with Sabalenka commercially, is that a place you want to be?”
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But speaking to the BBC, which faced backlash for committing to broadcast the match, Sabalenka insisted it was actually a “win-win situation”.
“I’m not putting myself at risk. We’re here to have fun and bring good tennis. Whoever wins, wins,” she said.
“It’s so obvious that men are biologically stronger than women, but that’s not what matters.
“This event will only help take women’s tennis to the next level.”
King’s 1973 triumph “over something else”
Rasheed was quick to dispel any similarities between King’s famous defeat of Riggs in 1973 and the event to be held in Dubai.
“The Billie Jean King and Riggs event was different — it was about something else,” Rasheed said.
“Billie Jean didn’t really want to do it, but she did it for reasons.”
King was 29 and the women’s world number one at the time of the match, and only agreed to play the retired 55-year-old Riggs after boasting that he could still beat any women’s player.
In front of 30,000 people in Houston, Texas, and an estimated worldwide television audience of 90 million, King defeated Riggs in straight sets.
Speaking to the BBC earlier this week, King was quick to point out the differences between the two events.
“Our goal was social – cultural change, as we were in 1973,” King said.
“That’s not the case with this one. I hope it’s a great match – I obviously want Sabalenka to win – but it’s just not the same.”
