Battle of the Sexes: Billie Jean King says Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios match ‘not same’ as her contest with Bobby Riggs

Some see the match between four-time major singles champion Sabalenka and Australia’s former world number 13 Kyrgios as harmless fun, but others believe it would belittle the women’s game if Sabalenka loses.

The exhibition will be best of three sets with a 10-point tiebreak if a decision is reached.

Sabalenka’s side of the court will be 9% smaller, while each player will receive just one serve, after tournament organizers Evolve said data showed female players move 9% slower on average than male players.

“I played Bobby three out of five sets, played the court and didn’t change a thing,” King recalled.

“I said, ‘Look, I’ll play straight through or I won’t play.’ And Bobby loved it.”

King’s contest took place just months after Riggs, who died in 1995 aged 77, beat world number one Margaret Court 6-1 6-2 in their first ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match.

This match was played the same year King founded the Women’s Tennis Association and three years after a group of players called The Original 9 left the sport’s founding.

This also occurred at the time of Title IX legislation in the United States, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in any school or educational program and provides equal benefits, opportunities, and treatment to male and female athletic teams.

“Mine was really political. It was culturally challenging,” King, 82, added.

“I knew I had to beat him for social change. I had many reasons to win.”