Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios’ Battle of the Sexes match at the start of the year opened up a whole new debate surrounding the men and women’s game.
Kyrgios defeated Sabalenka in straight sets, despite being ranked outside the top 700 of the ATP Tour rankings.
The result allowed many to disparage the women’s game, despite the WTA Tour becoming the best and most competitive it has arguably ever been.
Following the Battle of the Sexes, Patrick McEnroe has made a bold claim about Sabalenka and suggested the biggest difference between men’s and women’s tennis.
Patrick McEnroe highlights key difference between men’s and women’s tennis
Appearing on his radio show Holding Court, McEnroe claimed a junior men’s player could beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
“The short answer is that I was a decent pro as a journeyman-type player, ranked most of my career between 30, 75, 100, whatever it was,” he said.
If you were in charge of tennis, what is the first rule you would change?
“But if you took the top junior player in the world, the top 17 year-old and put him up against Sabalenka, they beat her 6-1, 6-1 or something. But again to me it’s irrelevant.”
However, McEnroe also stated that he is a fan of women’s tennis and believes it is often better than the men’s.
“I don’t say that to denigrate women’s [tennis], I love women’s tennis. I’ll watch that if there’s a great matchup more than I’ll watch a men’s blowout match.
“It’s just a totally different game. And tennis, for some reason, people don’t look at it the same way because they see Madison Keys or Sabalenka hit their forehand as hard as [Jannik] Sinner. Well, they’re not hitting it with the same spin and the movement’s different.”
The WTA Tour is often more entertaining and competitive than the ATP Tour, with many more different tournament winners to choose from.
Could there be another Battle of the Sexes match?
Sabalenka and Kyrgios’ Battle of the Sexes match was arguably the most controversial yet, particularly due to the Australian’s off-court life.
Despite the heavy criticism from the mainstream press, Sabalenka has opened up about wanting to play another match against a male player.
What is your bold prediction for the 2026 tennis season?
“I think I would definitely do it again. I love revenge and I don’t like to leave it the way it is. I think for the next match we will come up with a different format,” she explained.
“Before the match I didn’t realise I would have to adjust, and it was a bit tricky for me. I think I would keep the full court, but I would take two serves. That would even our level a lot more.
“I always say that when you are losing, you are learning, and I learned a lot about his game. I would do it again. I need revenge.”
The Battle of the Sexes match between Kyrgios and Sabalenka was set up by their management company, Evolve, so there’s every chance there’s another match between the two.
