Good afternoon!
Hello and welcome to Daily Mail Sport’s live coverage of… well, what is it really? Dubbed ‘the Battle of the Sexes’, today’s showdown between women’s World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and tennis’ leading agitator Nick Kyrgios bears only a passing resemblance to Billie Jean King’s landmark societal triumph against Bobby Riggs 52 years ago.
Rather than seeing the players compete on level footing, this Dubai-based exhibition gives Sabalenka a court side nine per cent smaller than her opponent’s, a hat-trip to data collected by organisers Evolve which suggests women are nine per cent slower than men. Both players will also only be allowed a single serve. But it’s only a bit of fun, isn’t it?
Sabalenka and Kyrgios certainly think so, with both of the players serving up fighting talk since the clash was first announced in September.
But will it truly entertain? There’s only one place to find out – here, with us, bringing you all the build-up ahead of the match’s 4pm start time.
