Belinda Bencic sides with Iga Swiatek while sharing honest thoughts about Sabalenka vs Kyrgios 'Battle of the Sexes'

Belinda Bencic expressed her critical view on Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios' Battle of the Sexes clash ahead of her appearance at the United Cup. After being asked about her view on one of the rare tennis matches, Bencic agreed with Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek.

The 2025 Battle of Sexes event, which took place at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on December 28, saw Kyrgios defeating the four-time women's singles major champion in a dominating fashion with a straight-set win 6-3, 6-3. Although the event was inspired by the iconic 1973 clash between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King, the matchup featured customized rules with Sabalenka's court being 8-9% smaller than that of Kyrgios.

The clash garnered massive criticism with the perception that instead of promoting a social message, it ended up doing the opposite. Bencic also opined that, rather than being a socially important event, it was merely an entertainment.

"My personal opinion is that it shouldn't have been called Battle of the Sexes, because that was something else," Bencic said. "Yeah, it was a nice exhibition."

Her views echoed with Swiatek, who refrained from watching the clash after believing that women's tennis has already marked its place and doesn't need any comparison.

“No, I haven’t watched, because I don’t watch stuff like that,” Swiatek said. “I think for sure it attracted, like, a lot of attention. It was an entertainment, but I wouldn’t say that had anything to do with, like, social change or any important topics. I think the name was just the same as the one from the Billie Jean King match in ’73. That’s it. There were no more similarities because I feel like women’s tennis stands on its own right now." (via collegefootballnetwork.com)

Sabalenka and Kyrgios slammed the media for spreading negativity about the event.

Belinda Bencic reflects on winning the Comeback Player of the Year award

Belinda Bencic during the Prudential Tennis Open in Hong Kong, China. (Photo - Getty Images)

Before going on maternity leave, Belinda Bencic last competed in September 2023. She gave birth to her daughter, Bella, in April 2024. The World No.11 returned to the court after 13 months. She displayed an exceptional run in the season after climbing to World No.11 at the year-end from being at 421 in January. The Swiss tennis player was named WTA Comeback Player of the Year. Reflecting on the feat, Bencic said.

"Last year, we didn’t expect it to go so well. Of course, I don’t think the work is done yet. I’m extremely happy to receive the Comeback Player of the Year award, and now it’s time to do more work and try to get better." (via wtatennis.com)

Belinda Bencic kicked off the 2026 United Cup with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Leolia Jeanjean.

Edited by Janhavi Shinde