Steve Johnson declares the Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios match "ridiculous" as the former American tennis player admits he has zero interest in watching it and suggests he is not sure whether the Australian will take the Battle of the Sexes seriously or just mess around on the court.
On December 28th, WTA world No. 1 Sabalenka will clash against 2022 Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. Going into the match, the Belarusian tennis star stated multiple times that she has big plans for the match and absolutely wants to get the job done. On the other side, the eight-time ATP champion admitted that he was feeling "a lot of pressure" because he was representing men's tennis and didn't want to disappoint.
While Sabalenka and Kyrgios have done their best to show that they are taking their Battle of the Sexes fully seriously, Johnson is all but convinced.
Johnson on the Sabalenka and Kyrgios clash: I think this whole thing is ridiculous
"I think it's ridiculous, to be honest. If they're going to play, just play all out. If not, I'm just saying, like I think this whole thing is ridiculous. There's no need to do it. Just, you know, have it's just we're going to get nowhere with this. If you're especially going to change serves, parameters, courts, the effort from Nick is always going to be a question mark, and that's it. I don't know. Like, I'm not going to watch a second of it, to be honest." Johnson said on the Nothing Major Show.
During a podcast appearance with Alexander Bublik in early September, Kyrgios claimed that he would routinely get it done against Sabalenka, probably winning sets with a 6-2 scoreline. Since then, he has changed his tone and spoke much more respectfully a few days ago when addressing their match.
