Aryna Sabalenka continues to gear up for her upcoming Battle of the Sexes match against Nick Kyrgios.
Sabalenka ended the 2025 WTA season as world number one again, having won four titles including the US Open.
However, the Belarusian has still been playing exhibition matches this year, with Sabalenka preparing for her ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match against Kyrgios.
The ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match has been widely criticised, and now Sabalenka has been asked how she thinks she would fare against other ATP players.
Aryna Sabalenka comments on how many top 1000 men’s players she could beat
Sabalenka is one of the most powerful tennis players in the world, even hitting harder than many of the top men’s players.
The four-time Grand Slam champion will play against former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios in Dubai later this month, and they have been conducting media interviews together to promote the event.
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When speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Sabalenka was asked how many of the current top 1000 men’s players she thinks she would beat.
While Sabalenka did not give a definitive answer, she did suggest that she would be able to beat some of the weaker servers on the ATP Tour.
Kyrgios has one of the better serves on the ATP Tour, and Sabalenka believes the court amendments made for the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match are necessary.
“To be honest I think if we play full court, full rules, it would be really tough for me to compete against guys,” said Sabalenka. “I mean physically they are much stronger, speed, power of the balls, everything is much stronger so it’s tough to compete.
“But in these conditions I feel like we are having here with a 9% smaller court, at least I have a higher chance to compete and see if I can win in these conditions and if I can maybe I will go for a regular match against a guy.
“I think some of them maybe I would be able to win. If there is a guy who doesn’t have a powerful serve, for example, I think I could get a couple of wins but it’s not like I would beat every one of them.”
Nick Kyrgios says what he has ‘no doubt’ would happen if Aryna Sabalenka faced top 1000 male players
John McEnroe once suggested that women’s players would struggle against the top 800 men in the world, and these comments were brought to Kyrgios, who is currently the world number 672 after playing just five matches this year.
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Although Kyrgios is confident he will beat Sabalenka, he backed his upcoming opponent to beat ATP players ranked in the top 1000, and spoke about how the sport has changed.
“I think the sport has changed,” answered Kyrgios. “Obviously we have advantages but I am around Aryna a fair bit now and I see her tennis and watch a lot of her matches, we have worked pretty closely.
“To see her physicality and the way that she hits the ball, there is no doubt in my mind, she is the number one player in the world and there would be guys who get extremely nervous and tight and as Aryna said, if they don’t have a big serve and get into the rally, her ball on her forehand is as big as some of the guys.
I have no doubt in my mind she would beat guys in the top 1000, that’s not even a question.”
Sabalenka and Kyrgios will put these comments to the test when they play in Dubai on December 28.
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