World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Australian player Nick Kyrgios’ upcoming “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition match has recently garnered a reaction from the South African star and Billie Jean King’s wife, Ilana Kloss. The game is scheduled to be played at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on December 28, 2025.
The Belarusian elite concluded her notable season with her second WTA Finals appearance, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she lost the title to Russian-Kazakhstani star Elena Rybakina. Meanwhile, the Aussie star was last seen in action at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where he played in the men’s doubles category.
Billie Jean King’s Wife Talks About the Upcoming “Battle of the Sexes” Match
Kloss, who won 19 WTA doubles titles and three gold medals at the Maccabiah Games, also known as the Jewish Olympics, as well as one silver medal, has recently reflected on the significance of the upcoming “Battle of the Sexes” matchup between Sabalenka and Kyrgios.
She had further highlighted that this matchup would be viewed more as an entertainment game rather than a meaningful one, and that the players would be earning a substantial sum. Apart from this, the Johannesburg, South Africa, native also pointed out the competitive difference between the two players.
Adding, as per Front Office Sports, “I don’t think anyone’s going to take it seriously. Other than them getting a check — which is great, I’m sure it’s a big check — I think you can’t even discuss them in the same conversation.”
Kloss’ wife, American legend King, with whom she has been together for more than four decades, won the second Battle of the Sexes match, which she played against Bobby Riggs, a Hall of Famer, former World No. 1, and the winner of 103 singles titles.
The then 29-year-old King defeated the then 55-year-old Riggs in three sets, successfully cementing the prominence of women’s tennis. On September 20, 1973, 30,000 people in Houston’s Astrodome watched the clash, and more than 85 million viewers watched the match on television as it was aired internationally.
Considering the importance of her match against Riggs, King had once shared, as per the WTA Tour, “I honestly didn’t think beating Bobby was a huge accomplishment athletically. But we wanted to change hearts and minds and I knew the worldwide reach it could have. It had an important effect psychologically and emotionally.”
In another interview with ESPN via the Olympics, King had reflected that her battle against Riggs was for the self-confidence of all women players. She had revealed, “I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn’t win that match. It would ruin the women’s tour and affect all women’s self-esteem.”
King is one of the most iconic advocates for gender equality and social justice, having worked toward numerous causes to uplift women’s sports in terms of equal rights, pay, and other issues.
