Nick Kyrgios predicts easy win over women’s world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in new Battle of the Sexes

Nick Kyrgios has declared he will easily defeat women’s world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka when the pair relaunch tennis’s Battle of the Sexes.

The rare man-versus-woman singles clash appears set to take place early next year, potentially at a Hong Kong tournament before the Australian Open.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Nick Kyrgios predicts easy win over Aryna Sabalenka.

Whether it goes ahead given Kyrgios’s ongoing injury battles remains to be seen, but the Australian appears as confident about winning as the then 55-year-old Bobby Riggs was nearly 50 years ago.

Riggs, a former world No.1 and grand slam champion, defeated Australia’s then world No.1 Margaret Court before he lost to American great Billie Jean King in the original Battle of the Sexes match.

On a podcast with fellow tennis entertainer Alexander Bublik, Kyrgios said he is “super excited” to face Sabalenka.

“She’s the type of player who genuinely thinks she’s going to win,” he said with a smile.

Bublik responded: “Yeah, but will you try or will you just be playing around and in the end she will win? Because if we talk about politics here, women’s tennis, equal rights, prize money, and if she beats you...”

Kyrgios said: “She’s not going to beat me. Do you really think I have to try 100 per cent?”

Bublik replied: “I think you can just go there, have a nice night out before that and say ‘OK, I don’t care’. My question was will you try to be there to play.”

Kyrgios was adamant.

“I’m going to try. I’m representing you, the men’s side. I would say like 6-2 maybe,” he said.

“Our serves, women can’t return them and then we can just chip and drop shot.”

Kyrgios said Bublik could win, too, adding: “You can chip, drop shot, they would have no idea.”

Bublik clarified he meant Kyrgios might not try to chase every shot: “For me it’s more about not going there and saying ‘OK, ah, she’s so good, I cannot play this, oh, she’s so good. That’s how I see it.”

“I’m not going to do that,” the Australian said.

“That would make me look so bad, imagine — the internet would go crazy. I think I’m going to be OK. I’m going to try, I don’t want her to win that’s for sure.”

Kyrgios said he would be forced to play with a smaller service box and also revealed the match would not feature second serves.

His confident remarks arrived on the day Sabalenka moved into the US Open semi-finals to close in on her fourth grand slam title.

Kyrgios, meanwhile, has not played a match since March after having pulled out of Wimbledon, the French Open and US Open.

It’s the third straight year the 30-year-old has withdrawn from the New York grand slam.

Kyrgios was the Wimbledon runner-up in 2022 and went on to reach the quarter-finals at the US Open that year but has struggled ever since then with a catalogue of foot, knee and wrist injuries.