"Painfully embarrassing"- Tennis insider shares honest opinion on upcoming Battle of Sexes between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka

One of the tennis insiders shared an honest opinion about Nick Kyrgios competing against Aryna Sabalenka in the upcoming Battle of the Sexes match. The exhibition match is scheduled on December 28 in Dubai.

The Battle of the Sexes match will be one of the first of its kind between the players of the current generation. Kyrgios and Sabalenka have been talking about competing against each other in this event. It has been recently confirmed that the showdown will take place at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.

Shortly after the announcement, one of the tennis insiders, named George Carmi, couldn't hold back his opinions about Kyrgios representing the men's side in this battle. Taking to his Instagram handle, the insider shared his opinion, saying:

"This has to be the worse bit of tennis news we have received all year. What is this? what the f**k is this? I knew there were reports of this happening a couple of months ago, but I genuinely did not think it would get greenlit. Nick Kyrgios' fight to stay relevant is getting painfully embarrassing at this point. And I am totally fine with the idea of a fun exhibition battle of the sexes, but all of that goes out the window once you select Nick Kyrgios to be the male representation. This is a man who has spoken aggressively about being anti-equal pay," said the Insider.

He added:

"There's a really high chance this man doesn't treat this like an exhibition. He is going to walk on to that court and try to make a statement, a very important statement in his mind that men and women should not be paid the same. This match is going to do irreparable damage."

Over the years, several matches have taken place between male and female players, and one of the most legendary 'Battle of the Sexes' clashes took place between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973. In that match, the former registered a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win.

What playful warning did Aryna Sabalenka send Nick Kyrgios ahead of the Battle of the Sexes amid criticism?

Earlier this year, in September, Aryna Sabalenka issued a playful warning for Nick Kyrgios ahead of their clash at the 'Battle of the Sexes' exhibition match. That came during the World No. 1 receiving major backlash for playing against the Australian, considering his controversial image.

Sabalenka appeared on the Jay Shetty podcast, where she issued a competitive message for Kyrgios. Asking him to gear up for their battle, she said:

"Well, Nick, you gotta be ready. You'd better be ready. Yeah.. I'm gonna kick your a** man. I think the ATP is gonna cancel the battle. They'll be like, ok, if its happening, let it be Jannik or Carlos, but not Nick," Aryna Sabalenka said laughing.

Nick Kyrgios also spoke about his clash against Sabalenka in one of his conversations with Alexander Bublik. He exuded confidence when the Kazakhstani player said that the Belarusian had the potential to beat him.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam