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Some see the encounter between four-time major singles champion Sabalenka and Australia’s former world number 13 Kyrgios as harmless entertainment, but others believe it could belittle the women’s game if Sabalenka loses.<\/p>\n
The exhibition will be the best of three sets, with a 10-point tie-breaker if it goes to a decider.<\/p>\n
Each player will only receive one serve, while Sabalenka’s side of the court will be 9% smaller after tournament organisers Evolve said data showed female players move about 9% slower on average than their male counterparts.<\/p>\n
“I played Bobby three out of five sets, I played on a court and didn’t change anything,” recalled King.<\/p>\n
“I said, ‘look, I play straight up or else I’m not going to play’. And Bobby loved it.”<\/p>\n
King’s contest took place a few months after Riggs – who died in 1995 aged 77 – had soundly beaten world number one Margaret Court 6-1 6-2 in the first ‘Battle of the Sexes’ matches.<\/p>\n
It was played in the same year King founded the Women’s Tennis Association, and three years after a group of players, dubbed The Original 9, broke away from the sport\u2019s establishment.<\/p>\n
It also took place at the time of Title IX legislation in the US, which prohibited sex-based discrimination in any school or education programme, and gave male and female athletic teams equal benefits, opportunities and treatment.<\/p>\n
“Mine was really political. It was rough, culturally, what was coming in with it,” added the 82-year-old King.<\/p>\n
“I knew I had to beat him for societal change. I had a lot of reasons to win.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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