Dubai hosts 'Battle of the sexes' 3.0

Women's world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka will take on Australian maverick Nick Kyrgios in a 'Battle of the Sexes' exhibition match in Dubai on Dec 28, organizers announced on Tuesday.

Sabalenka will face Kyrgios in a modern rendition of tennis icon Billie Jean King's 1973 showdown with fellow American Bobby Riggs, which turned out to be a watershed moment for both tennis and the women's movement.

Played in Houston's Astrodome, some 90 million tuned in worldwide to watch King storm to a straight sets victory that propelled the fight for equality in sports.

Aged 55 at the time, Riggs had beaten Australia's Margaret Court four months earlier, before King, aged 29, exacted revenge.

In 1992, eight-time Grand Slam champion Jimmy Connors, then aged 40, beat 18-time major winner Martina Navratilova, then 35, under modified rules.

"I have so much respect for Billie Jean King and what she has done for the women's game," four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka said in a statement.

"I'm proud to represent women's tennis and to be part of this modern take on the iconic Battle of the Sexes match."

Sabalenka and Kyrgios have teased the match on numerous occasions in the past few months, with the contest initially slated to be hosted in Hong Kong.

World No 652 Kyrgios, who has played just five matches this year since returning from a serious wrist injury that kept him out for 18 months, said in September that he could easily beat Sabalenka.

When asked about the Australian's comments during her run to the US Open title, the Belarusian said she was eager to prove Kyrgios wrong.