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Acclaimed tennis coach Rick Macci has backed Naomi Osaka to climb back inside the top 10 of the WTA Rankings in 2026, with the star looking to build on a resurgent 2025.

Osaka finishes 2025 ranked 16th in the WTA Rankings after a strong second half to the year, which saw the Japanese return to the top 20 for the first time since 2022.

After returning to the sport post-maternity leave at the start of 2024, the four-time Grand Slam champion was ranked 59th by the end of that season.

However, Osaka struggled with her fitness and her consistency towards the end of 2024 and the start of 2025, and ultimately split with coach Patrick Mouratoglou following a second-round exit at the Washington Open in July.

The former world No 1 hired Tomasz Wiktorowski in the aftermath of her split with Mouratoglou, and proceeded to produce by far and away her best tennis since her comeback.

Osaka stormed to the final of the WTA 1000 Canadian Open in Montreal and then reached her first Grand Slam semi-final in over four years at the US Open, pushing Amanda Anisimova all the way in a three-set thriller.

Having been ranked just inside the top 50 prior to action in Montreal, her two strong runs propelled her back inside the top 20 of the WTA Rankings.

Now, legendary coach Macci — who worked with the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova, among others — has backed Osaka for another big breakthrough in 2026.

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Posting on Twitter/X, Macci predicted that Osaka would “pull many upsets” across the season, and ultimately finish the year inside the top 10.

He wrote: “Osaka to be the wildcard and pull many upsets this year. Top ten will be her best friend and [she will] be right there in the end. She was a different player last year with the coaching change and had clarity motivation and a better understanding of the geometry of the court.”

Osaka will start her season at the United Cup in Perth, representing Japan in the mixed team competition.

As it stands, the 28-year-old is set to face Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu and Greece’s Maria Sakarri in the round-robin stage, with further matches to contest should Japan progress to the quarter-final.

Ranking points are on offer at the United Cup, though they vary per the ranking of any player’s opponent.

Osaka will drop points from her run to the Auckland Open final last year, though she has just third round points to defend at the Australian Open — the opening Grand Slam event of 2026.

Action in Melbourne begins on January 18, with Osaka having previously lifted the Australian Open title in 2019 and 2021.

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Read Next: United Cup complete field & schedule, prize money, ranking points: Raducanu, Gauff, Swiatek in action

The post ‘Wildcard’ Naomi Osaka backed for 2026 rankings breakthrough by Serena Williams’ ex-coach appeared first on Tennis365.

At the start of the 2025 season, Victoria Mboko and Alex Eala were still playing lower-tier tournaments, but they will face the very best in women’s tennis when the 2026 WTA Tour gets underway.

Just over 12 months ago, Mboko was setting the world alight on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour while Eala was competing on the WTA Challenger Tour and fellow rising stars Maya Joint and Iva Jovic featured on the WTA Tour thanks to wildcard entries, while Lois Boisson was out injured.

The five ended up enjoying brilliant breakthrough seasons that earned them nominations for the 2025 WTA Newcomer of the Year award, along with Eva Lys, with Mboko taking the honours on the back of winning the Canadian Open and Hong Kong Open while she also finished at career-high No 18 in the WTA Rankings, having started the year outside the top 300.

But what a difference a year makes as Boisson, Joint, Jovic and Eala are also inside the top 100 of the rankings.

And all five will compete on the WTA Tour in January 2026 as they have gained direct entries into several events, including the Australian Open.

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The fact that they competed at lower-tier events in 2025, means they won’t have too many points to defend in the first few months of the year.

Let’s look at the points they will drop in the first month of the new season.

Victoria Mboko – 70 points

The teenager was competing on the ITF circuit in January 2025 and she won two W35 titles – the ITF Le Lamentin, France (Martinique) and the ITF Petit-Bourg, France (Guadeloupe) – with each worth 35 points.

Mboko didn’t play any WTA main draw qualifiers so she only has 70 points to defend in the first month of the new year.

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Given that she is currently comfortably at No 18 in the rankings, she has a good chance to surge into the top 10 with good performances at the United Cup 2026, Adelaide International and Australian Open.

Maya Joint – 140 points

World No 32 Joint will drop 98 points from her run to the semi-final of the Hobart International, 32 from Brisbane and 10 from the Australian Open at the start of 2025.

The Australian will play at the United Cup and the Australian Open.

Iva Jovic – 70 points

The American started her 2025 season at the Australian Open and she won on her debut as she beat Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz in the first round before losing against Elena Rybakina.

The teenager, currently at No 35 in the rankings, earned 70 points for her performance.

Jovic will start her season at the ASB Classic in Auckland and that will be followed by an appearance at the Hobart International and the Australian Open.

Lois Bossoin – 0 points

The French star only made her 2025 debut in March as she was recovering from a long-term injury. Of course, she went on to record a memorable run at the French Open, reaching the semi-finals to surge up the rankings.

Boisson is currently at No 36 in the WTA Rankings and, with no points to defend, she could make her top 20 breakthrough at the end of January with a couple of good results.

The Frenchwoman will start her campaign at the United Cup before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open.

Alex Eala – 55 points

The world No 53 featured at the WTA Challenger Canberra International and reached the semi-final (55) while she also lost in the first round of qualifiers at the Australian Open (2) and the second round of the ITF Bengaluru Open (14), but the latter two events are non-countable.

Eala has signed up for the ASB Classic and the Australian Open.

The post WTA Rankings: How many points will 2025 newcomers Mboko, Eala, Boisson defend in January? appeared first on Tennis365.

Nick Kyrgios is pushing to get a wildcard into the Australian Open next month, but former British No 1 Greg Rusedski is not convinced he deserves a free ticket to the opening Grand Slam of 2026.

Kyrgios has barely played a competitive match in three years as injuries have sidelined the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up, but he is making another attempt to comeback to the ATP Tour in the new year.

At the age of 30, Kyrgios should have time on his side to get back to the top, but his ranking has slipped to No 671 and from the evidence of his ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match against Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday, he did not look ready to play best-of-five-set matches any time soon.

He is due to play his ATP Tour comeback event in Brisbane in the first week of January, but recent history suggests his wrist and knee problems flare up when he tries to play competitive tennis.

Kyrgios looked jaded at times and was sweating profusely during his 6-3, 6-3 win against the world No 1 female player, which inspired former British No 1 Greg Rusedski to suggest the Aussie is not worthy of a prized wildcard into his home Grand Slam event.

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When asked whether he feels Kygrios justifies a wildcard at this stage of his comeback, Rusedski was quick to offer his verdict.

“I wouldn’t,” he said on an Off Court Cuts edition of his podcast. “He’s have to have some phenomenal results. A win in Brisbane. Go deep or get to quarters or semis in the build-up.

“You have to look at all those up-and-coming Australian players and give them the opportunity to play.

“He’s box office. He brings people into stadiums, but he needs to show some form and from today’s performance [against Sabalenka], he doesn’t look ready to play best-of-five-sets.”

After receiving wildcards over the last couple of years and then pulling out of tournaments due to injury, it would be a big risk for Australian Open chief Craig Tiley to give Kyrgios a wildcard into his event and he admits he is waiting to see his progress.

When asked whether Kyrgios would get a wildcard earlier this month, Tiley said: “I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see,” said Tiley.

“He’s playing, which is good, he’s been playing events leading in, and I know he wants to play in the summer.

“So if he wants to play in the summer, it means he wants to play the Australian Open, but there’s still a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge.

“I think he’s beyond the period of a protected ranking, so he’s going to need a wildcard to play as far as I’m concerned.”

A decision on Australian Open wildcards is imminent, so Kyrgios needs to show he is ready to compete on the biggest stages again to ensure he is in the mix.

The post Former British No 1 gives his verdict on Nick Kyrgios getting an Australian Open wild card appeared first on Tennis365.

Aryna Sabalenka’s much-talked about Battle of the Sexes match against Nick Kyrgios didn’t live up to the hype so was it worth the effort? Did they earn any prize money for their efforts?

The Evolve athlete management agency had gone into overdrive to promote the exhibition match at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai as they organised interviews on Piers Morgan Uncensored, the BBC and a host of other broadcasters.

The build-up was more in line with a pre-match boxing weigh-in and, to be fair, they did get the attention of the world as the encounter was aired on BBC Sport and several other major networks with not too many other live sporting events taking place on the day.

The Coco-Cola Arena was sold out, although it has to be added that the 17,000 capacity venue was reduced to 6,000 seats, and keeping with the boxing theme, the entrances were spectacular.

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But the show itself was far from spectacular as the modified rules and smaller court – Sabalenka’s side was reduced by 9% which meant Kyrgios had to adjust his hitting quite a bit – and the colour of the drop-in court did not make for ideal viewing.

In the end, Kyrgios emerged with a 6-3, 6-3 victory so did they manage to inflate their bank balances after four weeks of PR work?

Money Matters

Ahead of the match, Evolve co-founder Stuart Duguid was asked by Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: “I assume there’s no prize money at stake for the winner of this? It’s just a pure ‘exhibition’?”

And the reply was: “Just for pride, yeah.”

In an email conversation with Front Office Sport, the question of money was also raised and Duguid insisted: “The battle is for pride, curated by progressive innovation.”

Despite Duguid’s comments, few believe that Sabalenka and Kyrgios went on a nearly month-long promotion drive to play just for pride.

Battle Of The Sexes News

Former British No 1 delivers a damning verdict as Nick Kyrgios beats Aryna Sabalenka

Biggest fears dispelled as Nick Kyrgios makes Aryna Sabalenka an offer after Battle of the Sexes showdown

Back in 1973, the original Battle of the Sexes match between Bobby Riggs and the great Bilie Jean King had a $100,000 prize on the line.

Let’s not forget that a lot of money is thrown around when Dubai hosts high-profile sporting events.

Sabalenka doesn’t need the money as she has earned $45m in career prize money with $15m coming from her 2025 season alone, while she also has a long line of sponsorships worth millions.

“I felt great. I think I put up a great fight. He was struggling, he got really tired,” the world No 1 said after the match.

“I think it was a great level, I made a lot of great shots, moved a lot to the net, drop shots. Really enjoyed the show. Next time when I play him, I already know the tactics, his strengths and weaknesses, and it will be a better match for sure.

“I love to challenge myself and I’d love to play again.”

Kyrgios, on the other hand, has made $12m from prize money, but his earnings have dried up in recent years as he has played only a handful of matches due to injury, so don’t be fooled into thinking he played “just for pride”.

“Seeing someone as great as Sabalenka out here and myself, it truly is a spectacle, and a great stepping stone forward for the sport of tennis,” he said.

“Of course I was nervous. Not many people would have put their hand up to be in this position.

“Sabalenka was up for the challenge, and the scoreline was close. This was all the world was talking about for the last six months.

“I’m just glad, from where I was – I wasn’t able to use my right hand – to even get back out here and compete with Sabalenka, honestly it’s emotional.”

The post How much prize money did Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios earn for Battle of the Sexes match? appeared first on Tennis365.

The reaction to Battle of the Sexes match between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka has been coming in and the general consensus appears to be negative.

A host of high profile journalists on X were quick to suggest the 6-3, 6-3 win for Kyrgios counted for little in a match that failed to catch fire, with the reduced court Sabalenka was playing on one of many reasons why critics were quick to condemn the contest in Dubai.

Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski delivered his verdict in the latest of his Off Court Cuts show, that is part of his recently launched Off Court with Greg podcast.

“I asked before the match on our podcast whether it was a gimmick and the answer is… gimmick, gimmick gimmick,” said Rusedski.

“I did not enjoy it. I just thought Kyrgios was dictating. Let’s not forget he was No 671 in the world. Did we actually need this and was it good for tennis? I’m not so sure.

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“It really didn’t feel like a match. Sabalenka is a brilliant tennis player. The world No 1, a multiple Slam winner. I just don’t think we need this for our sport.

“This is a guy who is not in shape and who hasn’t played for three years. You can see him sweating profusely on court and this just didn’t work for me.

“I’m a big of a purist and I’d rather watch the mixed doubles exhibition they had at the US Open. For me that is better value and a better advertisement of the game.”

Former British No 1 Annabel Croft also gave her verdict on the BBC and she also felt the Kyrgios vs Sabalenka spectacle failed to live up to it’s billing.

“I think it didn’t quite live up to what I thought it might be,” said Croft.

“That was a lot to do with how he played the game. He did what he does on the tour generally.

“He is a very awkward customer for anyone. Slice, choppy forehands, slow balling, awkwardness.

“The ball was moving a lot, particularly on his serve. The way it moved in the air, you could see she was returning way outside the court.

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“He was very smart how he played. You felt like at any point he could dip into other gears.

“I didn’t feel like it showcased her enough, of what we know she is capable of.

“Perhaps it was disappointing for how it could have showcased her, but it had it’s moments.

“She certainly didn’t embarrass herself in any way. I didn’t expect her to win that match.

“I got the impression he would quite like to play her again. Next time, they must not take her first serve away. That was the huge difference between the two.

“It would have been much more interesting if she had her first serve. It takes away a major part of how she sets up her tennis.”

READ NEXT: Nick Kyrgios confirms his comeback tournament – and this might be his last chance

The post Former British No 1 delivers a damning verdict as Nick Kyrgios beats Aryna Sabalenka appeared first on Tennis365.

The 2026 tennis season is about to dawn and the pieces of the jigsaw may be falling into place for the first calendar Grand Slam we have seen since 1988.

German legend Steffi Graf was the last player to win all four major titles in the same season and she made her glorious 12 months even more memorable by adding an Olympic gold medal to her collection to complete the perfect year.

The last time a male player won all four Grand Slams in the same season was back in 1969, as Australian legend Rod Laver dominated the sport in a manner that cemented his legacy as one of the game’s true legends.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all won three Grand Slam titles in the same year over the course of their remarkable careers, but the presence of the three most successful players in the history of men’s tennis all playing at the same time helped to ensure they did not complete the clean sweep of majors.

It was Djokovic who came closest to the calendar Grand Slam in 2021, as he won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon before losing the US Open final against Daniil Medvedev in New York, as the pressure of completing the ultimate tennis achievement caught up with him on the final leg of the journey.

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A new era has now started in men’s tennis, with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner winning the last eight Grand Slam titles between them and the duo will be eyeing up the prospect of more major glory in 2026.

If their dominance continues, Alcaraz and Sinner may be eyeing up the prospect of winning all four majors in one year and for one of the ‘Big 2’ in men’s tennis, opportunity may knock in the upcoming season.

Such has been the dominance of the players at the top of the rankings that if either of them suffers a dip in form, the door will open for the potential of the ultimate dominance for the other.

With Alcaraz confirming his shock split with his long-time coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero in the days before Christmas, the tennis world is waiting to see what impact that has on the young Spaniard.

It would be surprising if the coaching split does not have an impact on Alcaraz and that may affect his hopes of winning his first Australian Open title next month and completing his set of all four Grand Slams in Melbourne.

Sinner has looked unbeatable at the opening major of the year and has won it with plenty to spare in 2024 and 2025, so he will be the firm favourite to continue that invincible run next month.

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Winning the French Open for the first time may be Sinner’s biggest challenge, as Alcaraz is at home on a surface that reduces some of the weapons that make his big rival so tough to beat on hard courts.

Yet he was a point away from beating Alcaraz in their epic final at Roland Garros last year and Sinner was dominant as the two met once again in the Wimbledon final a few weeks later.

Alcaraz got his revenge for that defeat when he turned in a dynamic performance in his US Open final win against Sinner, but there has to be a chance that a slightly diluted version of Alcaraz could drop a level without Ferrero’s guidance in his corner.

Alcaraz finished the 2025 season nursing injury problems, but he still opted to play lucrative exhibition events in the off-season, with Sinner focusing his attention on more considered preparations for a new year that will offer huge opportunities for the player currently sitting at No 2 in the ATP Rankings.

With uncertainty hovering over Alcaraz’s fitness and coaching set-up, Sinner will be the player to beat in 2026 and he gets off to a flier by winning a third successive Australian Open title, the the calendar Grand Slam may quickly become a target on his horizon.

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz’s ex-coach opens the door to sensational move to Jannik Sinner’s team

The post Jannik Sinner ‘set to achieve the ultimate feat in tennis in 2026’ amid Carlos Alcaraz decline appeared first on Tennis365.

Carlos Alcaraz’s camp wanted to remove Juan Carlos Ferrero as coach a year ago and they had already lined up a high-profile replacement, but the player himself was against it, according to Spanish journalist Jose Moron.

One of the most successful partnerships came to an end after the 2025 season as Alcaraz announced that he had parted ways with Ferrero following seven years that delivered six Grand Slam titles, eight ATP Masters 1000 trophies and two year-end No 1 crowns.

Although the split came as a shock to the tennis community, many believe that there had been signs of tension between Alcaraz’s entourage and Ferrero with the relationship reaching a point a no return in December when the coach opted not to accept the terms of contract that was put on the table.

In an interview with Marca, Ferrero admitted that both parties were pulling in different directions as he stated: “As with all contracts, one side pulls in one direction and the other in another. Carlos’s camp thinks about what’s best for him, and mine thinks about what’s best for me. There were certain issues on which both parties disagreed.”

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But according to Punto de Break’s Moron, the decision to go their separate ways did not come out of the blue as those close to Alcaraz wanted to get rid of the 2003 French Open champion last year as the player was suffering from “mental burnout”.

“2024 was a very good year, he wins Roland Garros, he wins Wimbledon again, but then he has another stretch, especially after the Olympic Games, where Carlos Alcaraz loses his way a bit, just like in 2023,” he said on the Punto de Break YouTube Channel.

“At the end of the season, Alcaraz looked completely overwhelmed; I mean, he ends up breaking his racket in Cincinnati on an absolutely, well, fateful day for him.

“This is compounded by a very, very surprising defeat in the second round of the US Open. And that’s where, let’s say, Alcaraz starts to say, in a way, that he wasn’t mentally present, while from Juan Carlos’s side, he was being pressured to, ‘hey we have to keep going, we’re at the US Open, hey, now comes the Asian tour, the end of the season’.

“Alcaraz is showing signs of mental burnout, and those around Alcaraz here understand that all of this is mainly due to, let’s say, the way Ferrero wanted Alcaraz to manage his career, which isn’t ideal for Carlos.”

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Besides losing early at the US Open, Alcaraz was also knocked out in the round-robin phase of the ATP Finals while he won only one tournament – the China Open – following his Wimbledon title defence.

He also made a sluggish start to 2025, losing in the quarter-final of the Australian Open before finding form at the Rotterdam Open as he won his maiden indoor title.

Moron added that the Alcaraz camp was ready to pull the trigger until the tennis star told them otherwise, as he also revealed they had their eye on former world No 1 Andy Murray as a replacement, but Novak Djokovic was ahead of the game as he had already managed to sign Murray as his coach.

“It’s here where, at the end of 2024, a moment of tremendous tension occurs. This that has happened now in 2025, this breakup was going to happen last year, exactly a year ago, when at the end of the season, they went back to renegotiating Juan Carlos Ferrero’s annual contract, and so on,” Moron continued.

“Carlos Alcaraz’s entourage was not at all happy with what had happened in the last three months because they thought that all of this was caused by, you know, Juan Carlos is very strict.

“It’s that he understands tennis in a certain way, and here, where it was already made, it became even more evident. He understands tennis one way, and it seems Carlos wanted to go in a different direction.

“And around here, he saw it and said, ‘Hey, we don’t think this is going to work out.’ And what I’m told is that last year, Carlos Alcaraz’s entourage already wanted to do what happened this year, which is to remove Juan Carlos Ferrero and bring in another coach.

“They mentioned a name to me, we already talked about it when we discussed the topic of possible coaches for Carlos Alcaraz; the name they had in mind was Andy Murray. They wanted Andy Murray as Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, but Djokovic beat them to it, taking Murray.

“And another thing that happened, everything came to a halt, and what happened next? I’m told is that Carlos Alcaraz stopped the idea of ​​Juan Carlos leaving the team in 2024. At the end of last year, exactly a year ago, I repeat, what has happened now was going to happen, they intended to do it, but it was Carlos Alcaraz who stopped it.

“With this, I want to make it clear that the relationship between Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero has always been magnificent, tremendously good, there’s no buts about it.”

The post Carlos Alcaraz entourage wanted Andy Murray to replace Juan Carlos Ferrero – report appeared first on Tennis365.

The 2026 season is just around the corner and it means the scramble for WTA Rankings points and positions will resume with several players facing uphill battles in the first month of the new campaign.

Aryna Sabalenka finished 2025 as the year-end No 1 in the rankings with Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Jasmine Paolini, Mirra Andreeva and Ekaterina Alexandrova completing the top 10.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka has a 2,475-point lead over Swiatek, who in turn is 1,632 points ahead of Gauff so the top two should be safe until after the Australian Open, but there are unlikely to be several changes in the first few weeks of the new year.

Year-End WTA Rankings Top 10

1. Aryna Sabalenka – 10,870
2. Iga Swiatek – 8,395
3. Coco Gauff – 6,763
4. Amanda Anisimova – 6,287
5. Elena Rybakina – 5,850
6. Jessica Pegula – 5,583
7. Madison Keys – 4,335
8. Jasmine Paolini – 4,325
9. Mirra Andreeva – 4,319
10. Ekaterina Alexandrov – 3,375

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The top players will start their 2026 campaigns in the first week of January at either the United Cup or the Brisbane International and some have more points to defend than others from the outset.

A few have also signed up for the Adelaide International the week before the season-opening Grand Slam before they all head to Melbourne for the Australian Open.

WTA Ranking Points Being Defended In January

Sabalenka – 1,800

The world No 1 is one of those players who are under pressure as she won the Brisbane International in 2025 and she will defend 500 points while she finished runner-up to Keys at the Australian Open (1,300 points).

Sabalenka has once again signed up for those two events in 2026 so while she will drop 1,800 points, she could earn 2,500 back by winning both tournaments.

Swiatek – 1,105

The reigning Wimbledon champion featured at the United Cup and Australian Open at the beginning of 2025 and Poland finished runner-up (325 points) at the team event while she lost in the semi-final in Melbourne (780).

She can, of course, earn more points in 2026 by winning both of those events (500 for an undefeated champion at the United Cup and 2,000 at the Australian Open).

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Gauff – 930

The two-time Grand Slam winner led the United States to the United Cup last year as she finished the tournament undefeated (500) while she lost in the quarter-final of the Australian Open (430).

A run to the final of this year’s Australian Open will give her a points boost.

Anisimova – 125

The two-time Grand Slam runner-up is best-placed in the top 10 to make a charge as she made a slow start to 2025 before kicking on in February.

The American earned one point in Auckland, 54 in Hobart and 70 at the Australian Open last year.

Anisimova will play in Brisbane and the Australian Open in 2026.

Rybakina – 390

Reigning WTA Finals champion Rybakina is also well-placed ahead of the new year as she earned 150 points at the United Cup and 240 at the Australian Open in 2025.

The Kazakh star has signed up for the Brisbane International before the season-opening Grand Slam in Melbourne.

Pegula – 455

The former world No 3 finished runner-up at Adelaide International (325) and lost in the third round of the Australian Open (130).

Pegula will feature in Brisbane and Adelaide before the Australian Open so there is potential to win a lot of points.

Keys – 2,554

The defending Australian Open champion is facing a slump down the rankings as she will not only defend 2,000 points at Melbourne Park, but also 500 in Adelaide after starting the 2025 campaign with back-to-back titles.

She will also drop 54 points from the Auckland Open.

Keys will play in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne in 2026.

The post WTA Rankings: How many points are Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Anisimova, Keys defending in January? appeared first on Tennis365.

Aryna Sabalenka is set to take on Nick Kyrgios in one of the most talked-about tennis matches of 2025 in Dubai, with the best female player in the world accepting huge pressure as in the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ clash.

Sabalenka and Kyrgios are set to lock horns with the world No 1 WTA Tour star set to compete on a smaller court than her male rival in a match that will see both players operating with just one serve.

The contest has divided opinion in the tennis community, with Sabalenka and Kyrgios both coming under fire after they signed up for the contest.

Critics of the match suggest a heavy defeat for Sabalenka will damage the women’s game, while Kyrgios’ history, which includes a guilty plea in a domestic abuse case in Australia, has been cited as a reason why he is not the right candidate to take part in this contest.

Despite the scepticism Kyrgios felt the need to reject, the world will be watching when the best female player in the world takes on the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up and here is the tale of the tape ahead of what is certain to be a compelling contest.

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Aryna Sabalenka

Age: 27

Nationality: Belarus

Height: 5’11” (182cm)

Turned pro: 2015

Highest career ranking: Currently No 1

Career prize money: $45,175,621

Biggest weapon: Powerful ground shots

Biggest weakness: Struggles to stay calm on court

Form: Lost final match of 2025 season in WTA Finals, but she was the outstanding player in the world throughout this year.

Nick Kyrgios

Age: 30

Nationality: Australia

Height: 6’4″ (193cm)

Turned pro: 2013

Highest career ranking: No 13 in October 2016

Career prize money: $12,802,482

Biggest weapon: First serve

Biggest weakness: Explosive temperament

Form: He doesn’t have any due to a long spell out with injuries over the last three years.

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What they say:

Nick Kyrgios

“All the negative comments towards the Battle of the Sexes are doing nothing but giving it more attention. At the end of the day, Aryna will go down as one of the greatest players to play this game.

“I will have entertained crowds around the world. We are two humans who are good friends who want to put on a show and get more eyes on tennis.

“Sit back and enjoy the show. We both love the challenge and are going into this with no real experience. No one cares what you have to say.”

Aryna Sabalenka

“I am not putting myself at any risk. We’re there to have fun and bring great tennis. Whoever wins, wins. It’s so obvious that the man is biologically stronger than the woman, but it’s not about that. This event is only going to help bring women’s tennis to a higher level.”

Greg Rusedski (former British No 1)

“For it to be a real Battle of the Sexes, the court dimensions have to be the same and it has to be tennis. It could be one set, but it has to be two serves. The court size has to be the same because that’s the way tennis is played.

“Is this more of an exhibition and is Kyrgios going to take her along or is it going to be a real battle out there where they go toe-to-toe properly? We don’t know.

“Also, Kyrgios hasn’t really been on tour for three years, so we don’t know how that is going to work out if he is playing three full sets.

“There are three questions here. Yes you like it, no you don’t like it or is it a gimmick… and my opinion is I find it gimmicky.”

Casper Ruud (Grand Slam finalist)

“If you really want to do it, you should have fair playing grounds. If it’s not the same court on both sides and two serves, it’s not the real deal.”

The post Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios: Tale of the tape ahead of ‘Battle of the Sexes’ showdown appeared first on Tennis365.

Great Britain will pin their hopes on Emma Raducanu at the United Cup as she is the only player ranked inside the top 100 of the singles following Jack Draper’s withdrawal, while the team will also be without world doubles No 1 Lloyd Glasspool.

Draper and Raducanu were due to spearhead Team GB’s at the season-opening tournament in Australia, but they suffered a massive blow when the former announced that it “doesn’t seem like a smart decision right now” to compete following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an arm injury.

Following a brilliant first half of the season that saw him climb to a career-high No 4 in the ATP Rankings, the 24-year-old struggled with injury during the second half of the campaign as he played one completed match at Wimbledon before retiring from his second-round clash against Sebastian Baez.

Draper then returned at the US Open and, after playing in the mixed doubles, he went on to win his singles opener at the season-ending hard-court Grand Slam before withdrawing due to injury.

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That was his last match of the 2025 season, but he was confident he would kick off his 2026 campaign at the United Cup with Great Britain before competing at the Australian Open.

However, that won’t be the case as he won’t travel to Australia at all, saying “I’ve had this injury for a long time, I’m at the very, very end stages of the process and to step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn’t seem like a smart decision right now for me and my tennis”.

Draper, currently No 10 in the ATP Rankings, was due to be Great Britain’s leading player alongside world No 29 Raducanu, but the latter will now carry the hopes.

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United Cup squads consist of six members, two ATP singles players, two WTA singles player, one ATP doubles player and one WTA doubles player, but it will be a new-look GB team that play in Australia to the one that was originally announced.

Besides Draper and Raducanu, the other members of the squad were world No 126 Billie Harris (singles), world No 244 Mingge Xu (singles), world No 1 Glasspool (doubles) and world No 26 Olivia Nicholls (doubles).

Xu and Glasspool have also withdrawn and they have been replaced by world No 276 Katie Swann (singles) and world No 9 Neal Skupski (doubles).

No official replacement has been confirmed for Draper, but Harris will now be the No 1 singles player and he will take on Shintaro Mochizuk when Great Britain faces Japan in their opening tie on January 4.

Raducanu will take on Naomi Osaka with the mixed doubles pairings still to be decided.

Harris and Raducanu will also feature against Greece on January 5 with the former facing Stefanos Tsitsipas while Raducanu will play against Maria Sakkari.

The post Emma Raducanu part of new-look Great Britain team for United Cup after several setbacks appeared first on Tennis365.