Nick Kyrgios will return to the Rod Laver Arena for the One Points Slam alongside world number one Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, along with 48 players comprising professionals, amateurs and high-profile wildcards, who will fight for the £498,000 (AUD$1m) prize.
Kyrgios’ hopes of qualifying for the Australian Open are growing hotter after he was announced as a headline performer at the event, where he will be joined by some of the biggest names in tennis.
The 48-player event pits professional players against amateurs and celebrity wildcards in one-day events where each match is worth just one point. A game of rock, paper, scissors determines who will serve.
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Take a look at some of the best highlights of Kyrgios’ career so far…
The former Wimbledon finalist has played just one Grand Slam match since reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2022, and has played just five matches in 2025, with his last match coming in March.
Kyrgios, 30, has fallen to world number 668 and will need a wildcard to qualify for the home slam with his injury-free ranking of 21 expired.
He is working to regain full fitness after having been sidelined for the past three years by knee and wrist injuries.
Aryna Sabalenka and Kyrgios are scheduled to face each other in Dubai on December 28.
Kyrgios is preparing for her ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match against Aryna Sabalenka later this month and will also participate in the Kooyong Classic.
Australia’s Big Server said: He is feeling pressure ahead of the controversial exhibition match against Sabalenka..
No. 1 Sabalenka and 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios confirmed the date and venue for their match on December 28 in Dubai.
“I was in Hong Kong recently and a lot of the male players said, ‘Look, you represent all of us,’ so I’m back on the front line,” Kyrgios said.
“I’m no stranger to receiving intense media attention, but I’m looking forward to whatever the outcome is.
“I’m going to go out there and show the world that she’s great, but she also has weaknesses.”
Billie Jean King vs Bobby Riggs
Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King arm wrestle at a press conference where they announce that they will face each other in a $100,000 winner-take-all tennis match.
The Sabalenka-Kyrgios exhibition is named after the 1973 match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. King won in straight sets at the Houston Astrodome.
On September 20, 1973, US Open champion King and former professional Leaguer met in a match that will live down in tennis history.
King was 29 and Riggs was 55 at the time. But despite being retired from tennis for 14 years, Riggs remained determined to beat any woman.
King eventually beat Riggs 6-4 6-3 6-3 in straight sets in front of more than 30,000 fans at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, an estimated 50 million in the United States and 90 million worldwide.
The match is now described as a landmark moment for women’s sport.
Riggs’ ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match against King remains one of the most-watched tennis matches of all time.
The same year as The Battle of the Sexes, King formed the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the US Open became the first tournament to offer equal prize money.
“I wanted to inspire younger generations to move forward and fight for equality,” King said. “Because every generation has to start over and every generation has to fight for equality.”
Who else ran once?
Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova faced off in the ‘Battle of Champions’ in 1992.
The first ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match also took place in 1973 when Riggs faced Australian Open and French Open champion Margaret Court.
Court participated in a televised match in May of that year and took home $20,000. Riggs won the match in straight sets 6-2 6-1, later dubbed the ‘Mother’s Day Massacre’.
In 1992, 35-year-old Martina Navratilova faced 40-year-old Jimmy Connors in the ‘Battle of Champions’ at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Connors, who has been ranked No. 1 at the end of the year five times, gave Navratilova an extended court with a half-double alley on both sides and won only one serve, winning 7-5 6-2.
Each player received $500,000 to compete, the prize money was doubled for the winner, and it was broadcast on pay-per-view rather than national television.
“I’m glad it’s over,” Navratilova said. “It was such a long preparation and I was more nervous than any fight I’ve ever played. It was different from anything I’d ever played before. It was a different kind of pressure, 14,000 people and a pay-per-view.”
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