Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Krygios “Battle of the Sexes”
What was all that meant to prove?
It was billed as the Battle of the Sexes in reference to the original between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs back in 1973, a match which was seen as a true battle for social justice and for equal pay between men and women, both on and off the court. Billie Jean proclaimed that, yes, as world no 1, she would never have beaten the male equivalent, but she wanted to prove that the women’s game was just as entertaining as the men’s and worthy of equal prize money, and it had a real impact in this respect. This other match was meaningless in comparison.
Some years ago, John McEnroe declared that the men’s number 700 would easily beat the women’s no 1, Serena Williams. It caused an uproar at the time, but I’m sure he was right. There has always been the argument that pay parity at the Slams makes no sense since the women only play best of three sets, whereas the men play the best of five which is obviously much tougher. But the women argue that they train just as hard and have the same expenses as the men and, were they to earn far less, that would make them feel inferior both on and off the court, and that has to be an important consideration. I’ve also long argued that both women’s and men’s matches at the Slams should be best of three sets up to the quarters and best of five from thereon. That would surely solve the parity issue.
McEnroe’s proclamation turned out to be right – after all, Kyrgios, the men’s 631, comfortably beat Sabalenka, the women’s no 1, in straight sets by 6-3, 6-3. Not only that, but he was restricted to a 9% smaller court to hit into since women are supposedly 9% slower than men. I’m not sure who came up with that theory. They were also only allowed one serve. Krygios has one of the best serves in the game. He would have thrashed his opponent otherwise.
The Dubai 17,000-seated arena was sold out but judging by the limp atmosphere one would never have thought so. We don’t yet know the numbers of the tv audience but I doubt they were anywhere near the 90 million for the King vs Riggs match.
Krygios and Sabalenka are represented by the same management agency, Evolve, which made the whole thing look like a complete gimmick, one to line the pockets of the players and that agency. Evolve claim that neither player received any prize money and were purely playing for pride. Yet, tickets ranged from £100 - £600. Don’t tell me they didn’t receive a cut.
Krygios was soaked in sweat by the end of the match, one which didn’t look exactly taxing. He may have barely played in the past three years but is he really this unfit? He’s been given a wild card for Brisbane next week but on this showing he won’t win a single game in the first round.
But despite all the sweating, Krygios seemed to be playing at quarter pace, not even attempting to reach balls he could have walked to. He was no doubt under instructions by the agency to make it look competitive.
The organisers tried everything to hype the match up with Sabalenka entering in a boxing-style silver sequined floor-length coat. She also tried on a macarena style dance routine in the middle of the match, one which fell completely flat.
Compare this to the Riggs vs King opening ceremony where Billie Jean was carried into the arena on a feather-adorned throne by bare-chested muscle-men, followed by
Riggs’ arrival in a rickshaw pulled by a posse of female models. Riggs presented King with a massive “Sugar Daddy” lollipop and King responded with a gift of a squealing piglet, symbolising male chauvinism. Now that was entertainment.
The Krygios vs Sabalenka “spectacle” was a damp squib and a complete embarrassment. Let’s hope it’s one that won’t be repeated.
