"It's only for show": Casper Ruud damning on Kyrgios-Sabalenka Battle of the Sexes and admits wrong post Big Three retirement prediction

Casper Ruud has questioned the credibility of a proposed Battle of the Sexes exhibition between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios taking place before the Australian Open, branding the concept “only for show” unless both players compete under identical conditions.

Speaking to Greg Rusedski on the Off Court with Greg podcast during Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) interviews, the Norwegian world number one contender made it clear that any such contest would need to reflect a level playing field to be taken seriously.

With reports suggesting Sabalenka would compete on a smaller court, be limited to a single serve, and play a shortened format, Ruud was unconvinced. “I don’t know, it’s hard to tell,” Ruud admitted. “I haven’t really… you want to help me out? So it’s a smaller court.”

When the format was clarified, Ruud did not hold back. “Well, in that case, it’s only for show,” he said. “I mean, if you really want to do it, you should have fair playing ground.”

Ruud referenced the original Battle of the Sexes match involving Billie Jean King as the benchmark, pointing out that it was played under normal conditions with no adjustments. “If it’s not the same court, same size, two serves, it’s not the real deal, is it?” he added, agreeing with Rusedski’s assessment that the modern version felt “a little bit gimmicky”.

Later in the conversation, Ruud turned his attention to the changing landscape of men’s tennis following the gradual retirement of the Big Three, and admitted he had underestimated how quickly Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner would assert dominance. “I said a few years back when Roger started retiring, or when Roger was the first to retire and Rafa then came after, that I was expecting there to be a little bit more Grand Slam champions than there has been,” Ruud explained.

For much of the past two decades, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic ruled the sport, sharing the biggest titles almost exclusively. Ruud believed their exit would open the door to a wider pool of champions — but that hasn’t materialised yet. “It really hasn’t, because Sinner or Alcaraz have won pretty much everything since those guys started to step down,” he said.

Despite that, Ruud remains optimistic that the current duopoly will not last forever. “I still believe that the next five to 10 years, we’ll see more Slam champions,” he said. “I think there will be more guys that can challenge them, and of course I hope to be one of them.”

Ruud acknowledged just how high the bar has been set by the new generation, admitting both players have elevated the sport. “They’ve kind of taken the game to a new level,” he said. “But, you know, they’re also human, just like everyone else.”

While Alcaraz and Sinner have effectively inherited the throne vacated by the Big Three, Ruud is confident the story of men’s tennis is far from finished. “They have been the ones that took over the throne of the Big Three, and it’s been really impressive,” he said. “But I hope that there will be a few more Grand Slam champions in the years to come.”