It is the match that has got both the tennis and wider sporting world talking, and there is now just one day until Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios take to the court for a \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 in Dubai.<\/p>\n
The build-up to the clash between reigning WTA world No 1 Sabalenka<\/a> and Kyrgios<\/a> has been contentious and controversial, with a range of interest, praise, and criticism ahead of the high-profile showdown between the two stars<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, it is far from the first time that tennis has played host to a \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019, and here we look back at five previous times in which players faced off in similar showdowns.<\/p>\n A multiple-time Grand Slam winner in the 1930s and 1940s, Riggs soared back into prominence in 1973 after stating that he, as a 55-year-old, could beat any of the leading women\u2019s players of the era.<\/p>\n Riggs wanted to play Billie Jean King<\/a>, but when she refused, fellow tennis great Court<\/a> \u2014 considered the best player in the world at that point \u2014 accepted his challenge, pocketing a guaranteed $20,000 for her appearance.<\/p>\n Around 5,000 fans came to watch the match in the stands in California, but it ultimately proved to be a one-sided affair, with Riggs breezing towards a 6-2, 6-1 victory in less than one hour.<\/p>\n Held on US Mother\u2019s Day, the match was dubbed the \u2018Mother\u2019s Day Massacre\u2019 and provided a further significant boost to Riggs\u2019 profile.<\/p>\n After Riggs\u2019 win over Court, King accepted his challenge in the most famous \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 of them all, an event that brought tennis into the spotlight \u2014 and inspired the 2017 film.<\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka makes world No 1 \u2018pressure\u2019 admission after WTA Rankings milestone<\/a><\/p>\n Rafael Nadal opens door to Roger Federer exhibition tour, with one crucial caveat<\/a><\/p>\n A winner-takes-all prize money payout of $100,000 was on offer for whoever prevailed in the match, which was held inside the Houston Astrodome in Texas.<\/p>\n Approximately 30,000 people watched inside the stadium with an estimated global audience of 90 million, and King swiftly sealed an emphatic 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory.<\/p>\n The legitimacy of the match and the outcome has been called into question at times, though it proved to be a watershed moment for women\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n Almost two decades on from Riggs\u2019 matches versus Court and King, tennis legends Connors<\/a> and Navratilova<\/a> contested their own \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 in Nevada.<\/p>\n Navratilova had previously turned down the chance to take on John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase in similar showdowns, though she took on Connors after the event promoters were unable to persuade Monica Seles.<\/p>\n Similar to Kyrgios and Sabalenka\u2019s showdown, hybrid rules were in place, with Connors only allowed one serve, and Navratilova allowed to use the double alleys for her groundstrokes.<\/p>\n Eventually, it was Connors who prevailed, with the eight-time Grand Slam champion defeating Navratilova 7-5, 6-2, earning $500,000 on top of a $650,000 appearance fee.<\/p>\n Already two of the biggest names in the sport, teenagers Venus<\/a> and Serena<\/a> famously claimed in 1998 that they could beat any male player ranked outside the top 200 of the ATP Rankings.<\/p>\n That led to a challenge from then world No 203 Braasch, with the German offering to face them on court at the Australian Open that year.<\/p>\n Braasch prepared for his matches against the Williamses by playing a round of golf and drinking two shandies, and beat Serena 6-1 before defeating Venus 6-2 in their set.<\/p>\n He would later claim that the sisters would have no chance against any man inside the top 500, while Serena and Venus lowered their claim to outside the top 350.<\/p>\n Twenty years on from his famed 1983 French Open triumph, Noah<\/a> faced Henin<\/a> in an exhibition \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 in Brussels.<\/p>\n Henin was the WTA world No. 1 at the time and was at arguably the peak of her powers, having triumphed at the French Open and US Open that season.<\/p>\n The match was far from serious \u2014 with Noah donning a dress to compete \u2014 though it proved more competitive than some of the other examples on this list.<\/p>\n Ultimately, 43-year-old Noah defeated 21-year-old Henin 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.<\/p>\n Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites<\/a> list for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n Read Next<\/strong>: Aryna Sabalenka ready for \u2018unpredictable\u2019 Nick Kyrgios showdown at controversial \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n The post Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios: 5 famous (or infamous) \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 showdowns<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is the match that has got both the tennis and wider sporting world talking, and there is now just one day until Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios take to the court for a \u2018Battle of the Sexes\u2019 in Dubai. The build-up to the clash between reigning WTA world No 1 Sabalenka and Kyrgios has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1509\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1973: Bobby Riggs vs Margaret Court<\/h2>\n
1973: Bobby Riggs vs Billie Jean King<\/h2>\n
Tennis News<\/h2>\n
1992: Jimmy Connors vs Martina Navratilova<\/h2>\n
1998: Karsten Braasch vs Venus and Serena Williams<\/h2>\n
2003: Yannick Noah vs Justine Henin<\/h2>\n