Greg Rusedski claims he was told that Martina Navratilova was offered to play against a male player when she was the top-ranked player in the game, but turned it down.
On Sunday, WTA world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will take on Nick Kyrgios in Dubai. It will be tennis' first Battle of the Sexes in the 21st century.
The match has received both positive and negative attention. While some are heavily excited about seeing Sabalenka and Kyrgios clash, there is also a group who strongly opposes the match and argues that it could "damage women's tennis."
Rusedski, the 1997 US Open runner-up, thinks there are absolutely some "tricky things" about having a WTA player face an ATP player. And apparently, he heard that former 18-time Grand Slam champion Navratilova received a similar offer when she was in her prime.
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Rusedski: Navratilova decided that it wasn't for the good of the game
I believe this to be true. Somebody told me Martina Navratilova years ago, when she was world No. 1, got offered $1 million to do that [take on a man] and she decided against that. She decided that it wasnt for the good of the game. This is the tricky thing, we are all talking about it, so it is bringing eyeballs to it. So as a tennis purist, Im not sure its the best thing," Rusedski said on his podcast.
Despite the criticism, Sabalenka doesn't see any issues regarding meeting Kyrgios.
"I am not putting myself at any risk. It's so obvious that the man is biologically stronger than the woman, but it's not about that. This event is only going to help bring women's tennis to a higher level," four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka told the BBC.
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Meanwhile, Navratilova actually played against a male player once. However, it happened in 1973, five years before she lifted her first Grand Slam singles title.
