‘Just Not Fair To Women’ Aryna Sabalenka x Nick Kyrgios Face Battle Of The Sexes

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0:30Piers Morgan:If you get taken down by a woman, you're going to throw the biggest tantrum of your life. If I go down, this one might be... This one might be the one that hangs the rackets up for good. It's been, Irina, some of your opponents claimed you have a biological advantage. You're bigger, taller and stronger. And she suggested this was down to your higher testosterone levels. What do you say to that? It's no secret that I have strong opinions about men competing against women in elite sport. The biologically male body is bigger, stronger and faster than the female physiology. And we've only recently been cowed into pretending otherwise because of a noisy minority of radical wokies.

1:09Piers Morgan:But long before this debate became toxic, and in my view, frankly insane, there was a far more jovial contest over the sporting supremacy of the genders. It was called the Battle of the Sexes, with female tennis superstars taking on men in big televised exhibitions. Margaret Court lost to Bobby Riggs in the first ever battle of the sexes back in 73. Riggs then sensationally lost to Billie Jean King later that same year. 50 million people watched it on TV. It's also an important milestone in the public appreciation of women's tennis. I personally very much appreciate women's tennis, but Riggs by that time was 55 years old, 26 years older than King.

1:48Piers Morgan:The great Martina Vatilova then lost to Jimmy Connors in 1992, putting the debate to bed for good until now. The world's number one in women's tennis, Irina Sabalenka will take on the world's number one in tennis temper tantrums. I said that deliberately to wind him up, Nick Kyrgios, on the 28th of December in Dubai. And both of them join me now. Well, Nick Kyrgios, lovely to see you again, as always. Irina, welcome to Uncensored, your debut. Thank you, I'm excited to be here. I actually heard Nick saying off-camera, All I heard him say was, have you talked to Piers Morgan before? And you said no, and then I didn't get what he said.

2:29Piers Morgan:What was the warning he gave you? No, I just said that you're going to be nice to me, but not to him. Bingo! Bingo! You can go really full. No, no, you can absolutely go hardcore. Let me just lay my cards right on the table, Irina. We don't know each other, but I have never wanted anything more in my life than for you to give Kyrgios a good spanking?

2:59That's going to be a fun show for sure. He's stressed. That's all I know. That's all I need to know. Well, the thing is, Nick Kyrgios,

3:05Piers Morgan:I mean, Arena hasn't got anything to lose because the expectation will be that given that you're nearly the same age, she's 27, you're 30, despite the fact she's world number one and you're down in the 600s currently in the men's because you've not been playing as much, obviously. The expectation is that you should win comfortably. But if you don't, this could be the most humiliating moment of your life. How are you feeling? It's a little situation over here. I mean, that's the thing, Piers. I've had some pretty low moments in my career. But the thing is, I know Irina and I know that she really has confidence in her ability, whether she's playing me or whether she's playing Coco Golf or anyone.

3:51You know, I feel like I'm very aware that she's a dangerous tennis player. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to give it everything. You know, I'm going to go out there and be very weary of her weapons, what she's able to do. And look, at the end of the day, I've had tough losses. But as you said, if I go down, this one might be this one might be the one that hangs the rackets up for good.

4:10Piers Morgan:No, no, there's no way back. You'd have to you'd have to immediately retire. I don't I don't Well, I like to hear how stressed he is. But at the same time, I don't want to be that person who's going to help him to retire. Oh, no, no. You get a statue, Bill, all around the world. We have one in London, one in Sydney, one in Belarus. That's rough. You know that you like me now. You don't really want to see me away from the sport. Stop saying things around. That's true. I don't actually want you to retire, but I do want to see you absolutely. No, no, guys, come on. I think this exhibition has been a good push for Nick to finally start working, doing something.

4:48I think that's what I heard from his team. Yeah, that's true. So, finally, Nick is back practising, training. So, I think guys should be aware that Nick is coming back in Australia, right? No, Arena, I want to talk to you... I'm happy to be that boost.

5:02Piers Morgan:Well, Arena, I want to talk to you seriously about the contest because they've made some accommodations for the gender differential. So, you will have a 9 % smaller court to defend and there will only be one serve only, which the belief is it may neutralise... What's that? No, no, go ahead. Sorry, sorry. Because, like, he knows what I'm going to say next. OK, well, what are you going to say? Yeah, because originally I had two serves, but then he got so stressed that he took away the serve. So now we... Wow. Yes, now, like, it was so, so bad for him to do that. Wow, I didn't know that. He's trying to be a gentleman.

5:48He has to give me two, right? Wow, the request came from Mr. Kyrgios. Really? This show is just called Shred Nick Kyrgios. It's not even about talking about the battle. But is that true? Is it true that you begged for mercy on the serves? Is it? Look, we had an initial meeting, and I was very okay with all the rules. And then I saw the rules, and I was like, don't get me wrong. Like, her serve is very good, and it would be better than some males. Come on, for a guy who's so good. I'm being genuinely being honest. Your first serve, how it was, is better than some males. So I feel like if she had two serves and I only had one serve, I would be the underdog.

6:25I'm not even joking. Like, it would be tough out there.

6:28Piers Morgan:Let me ask you, Irina. It's going to be tough anyways. Well, Irina, I remember Serena Williams, I think, being asked, you know, how many men she could beat. And I think she said she wouldn't beat anyone in the top 800. I think she said something like that. When you look at the men's game and you look at, say, the top 1 ,000 players, how many do you think you could beat? I mean, at what level would you fancy your chances against a man in, say, a three-set competition? Well, to be honest, I think if we play, like, full court, full rules, yeah, it would be really tough for me to compete against guys.

7:10against guys. I mean, physically they're much stronger. Speed, power of the balls, everything is much stronger. So it's tough to compete. But in these conditions, I feel like we're having right now here, like 9 % smaller court, I feel like, okay, maybe at least I have a bit higher chance to compete and to see if I can win in these conditions. and if I can, then maybe I will go for...

7:40Piers Morgan:But if you're honest... There's obviously a physical advantage for men, but if you're honest, do you think you would be any... Would you beat any man in the top 1 ,000 men, do you think, under normal conditions? For sure. I think some of them, maybe I would be able to win, yeah. Like, if there's the guy that doesn't have that powerful serve, for example, and... Yeah, I think I could get a couple of wins, but not like I would win every of them. Right. And Nick, what do you think? I mean, it's been a long-held debate. John McEnroe, I think, was very public about this too and said that the disparity was simply too big and that the best women's player ever would struggle to beat anyone.

8:29Piers Morgan:And I think he said, again, in the top 800 to 1 ,000 or whatever. What do you think? Look, I think the sport's changed. You know, obviously, you know, we have advantages. But, you know, I'm around Irina a fair bit now. And I see her tennis and I watch a lot of her matches. Obviously, we work pretty closely. And, you know, to see her physicality and the way she hits the ball, there's no doubt in my mind that, you know, she's the number one player in the world. There would be guys that would get extremely nervous, extremely tight. And, you know, as Irina said, if they don't have a big serve and they get into the rally, like, her ball speed on her forehand is as big as some of the guys as well.

9:05So it's like, I have no doubt in my mind she would beat guys in the top thousand. That's not even a question. But I think, you know, the main thing is about this is like, I guess both of us, you know, our goal is to try and grow the sport. You know, I want more eyes on the sport. And I think that's the main thing. You know, what other sport in the world where you can have, you know, your favourite female player and some of your favourite male players on the same court competing, and it's going to be a show. Like, it's going to be amazing. You know, this has already picked up more traction than, you know, some of the men's matches this year or some of the women's matches.

9:36So I'm just super excited to be a part of something like that's actually quite historical. And I'm looking at it, I'm just grateful that I've been, you know, I got thrown into the deep end. I'm looking at it as a blessing to go out there and to share the court with world number one. Like, that's all I'm focusing on. I don't care about the name. I just want to go out there and give the people a show and, you know, have a bit of fun.

9:57Piers Morgan:Irina, there have been criticism from some women journalists about this. The Guardian had a woman write to you, so what we have here is a massive opportunity for women's sport to be belittled, dismissed and gloated over by incels and career misogynists to blow its own foot off with a single dog whistle publicity stunt. What do you say to people that have that view? Well, it's actually quite funny to see how some people see that. I think what Nick just said previously, it's absolutely right. We're just bringing our sport to the next level and we're bringing it to the show. The visibility that this event got in the last couple of months or so is incredible.

10:45And we're just going to bring it to the show and we're going to compete and we're going to fight. And, yeah, it's just going to explore our sport a bit more. And I think that's our goal. And, of course, I want to bring the fight. I want to have fun. And I want to put this guy in an uncomfortable situation over there. Well, we all want that to happen.

11:06Piers Morgan:And I also think the fact that, like, our... Well, Nick, I wanted to read you a quote from Rene Stubbs, four-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, who said, well, what's in it for women's tennis? Nick Kyrgios, unless he's really hurt and can't run at all, will win this match easily. It's just a fact. Male tennis players, especially one as good as him, even if he's playing at 50%, he's going to win that match. Do you agree?

11:33Look, to be honest, I don't think I've really ever taken anything, you know, Renee Stubbs has said about me really personally or with any really care, to be honest. I think it shows unity. Honestly, it really does show unity. I think people don't know that me and Irina get along extremely well. We are having fun in doing this together. This is something that not many tennis players have ever experienced. What if you win 6-0, 6-0? But what if? That's sport. That's why it's not played on paper. That's why we're going out there. We don't know what to expect. I've never gone out there in that. I'm going to feel extremely nervous.

12:10I'm carrying a lot of weight as well. Irina's won grand slams, but she's never gone into this kind of scenario. I love to challenge myself. Exactly. It's like a challenge for both of us. Like, Nick didn't play for a while. For him, it's like, it's a good start. It is the motivation to get there. He's stressed, yeah, obviously, for obvious reasons, right? But it's good for him to feel that stress and to go out there and compete in this stress. And for me, it's a challenge. It's like I'm challenging myself. I'm putting myself against Nick, like a big server, like the guy that can just... Yeah. ...makes you go nuts, you know?

12:40Like, for me, it's a huge challenge. So that's the way I take it. And whatever some of the commentators are saying, it's just their opinion. And I'm happy they have their opinion, but it doesn't mean that their opinion is right.

12:55Piers Morgan:I think I've been watching too much football. We saw Steph Curry and Sabrina do a three-point contest. I think when men and women are now doing more of these things together, I think it's a sign that the sport is actually moving in a positive way rather than just excluding each other at all. We still play mixed doubles together. We still have mixed doubles tournaments, so why can't we do more activities like this or do more exhibitions like this? I actually see it as a positive rather than how people are commenting on it. There's always going to be negative. There's always going to be people not supporting us doing it.

13:25Well, I will definitely... Listen, I'm all in favour of it.

13:28Piers Morgan:I will definitely watch it, but with only one aim in mind, and that is to see Arena reduce you to a blubbing mass and destroy you. I'm extreme... Did you say loving man? No, blubbing mass. Blubbing. Oh, oh, oh. Crying. A crying blob. I knew exactly who you were going to go for. I knew exactly who you were going to go for. I did say 6-0 earlier. Of course, I meant 6-0. I was getting my sports mixed up with football. Let me ask you, Irina, it has raised the whole question again of this ongoing debate about trans athletes in women's sport because obviously it highlights the physical disparity between men and women.

14:10Piers Morgan:Martina Rattalova, a former number one, obviously like yourself, says it's wrong for the Women's Tennis Association to allow trans women to compete in its events. Do you agree with her? When you finally find your thing, you want the whole world to know about that thing. So you use a thing called Canva to make it an even bigger and better thing. Whether you want to create flyers for that thing, make presentations for that thing, or design merch for that thing, you can do anything. So people can see your thing, feel your thing, love your thing. The next thing you know, it's a thing. Canva, the thing that makes anything a thing.

14:55Well, that's a tricky question. I have nothing to do against them, but I feel like they still got huge advantage over the woman. and I think it's just not fair to a woman to basically face, like, biologically men and then it's, you know, it's not fair. Like, the woman's been working the whole life to reach her limit and then she has to face, like, a man, like, which is biologically much stronger. So, for me, I don't agree with this kind of stuff in sport.

15:27Piers Morgan:Yeah, Nick, what do you feel? Because I completely concur with what Irina just said. Yeah, I feel the exact same way, to be honest. Yeah, I've got nothing to add, but I think she hit the nail on the head there. There's been, Irina, some of your opponents, Marta Kostyuk, who is a Ukrainian tennis player, claimed you have a biological advantage. You're bigger, taller and stronger. And she suggested this was down to your higher testosterone levels. What do you say to that? That's so funny that we even talk about someone like Marta Castillo comments, but all I hear here is just excuses. Yes. And it's actually quite funny because she's a strong girl.

16:15She probably has more muscles than I do, and she looks fit and strong, and I think that's not the case in all of the matches she lost against top players. I mean, yeah, I did... You kind of debunked that, like, someone like John Isner or Ivo Karlovic was a fair bit bigger than Roger Federer, but... Yeah, you're always going to get physical differences between players.

16:38Piers Morgan:I think that's not the key in sport. I did like your response, though, Arena. You responded by posting a series of bikini photos to your Instagram page. Oh, OK. Showing off your feminine charms, which I thought was a very, very, very good response. Oh, yeah, that's funny, guys. you know I just oh just wanted to make sure that she sees the real picture I'm not looking at a woman with too much testosterone there what do you think Nick

17:17don't drag don't drag me into this Look how panicky he is.

17:22Piers Morgan:He dare not say what he's actually thinking. Very sensible, young man. Very sensible. I've matured with age. I want to talk about something just a little bit more serious. Obviously, Belarus, you've not been competing with the Belarus flag because of the ongoing war in Ukraine and Belarus' support for Russia. We've got events like the Olympics coming up and so on. What do you hope happens? Would you like to get back to being able to compete with your nation's flag? Christmas is peak time for online shopping sprees, but that also means it's peak time for hackers and data brokers who steal your information online.

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19:28Piers Morgan:For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15 % off using code PEERS, that's P-I-E-R-S, at oneskin.co. That's 15 % off oneskin.co. with code peers. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them, so please support our show and tell them that we sent you. Well, listen, I've always been really proud to represent such a small country, and I take it as, you know, I'm an inspiration for the young kids there, and, you know, for example, changing my nationality, it's not the case for me, because I don't want to betray all that kids. so I would like to represent Belarus just for the kids from that country to see me competing on a high level and get inspired by me and hopefully by my example I'll show them that if I was able to make it from that country from that little country in the world make it all the way to the top I want them to think that they also can do that Nick, I was playing golf up in Scotland with your old mate Andy Murray and you've had a little spat with Andy Murray because he wouldn't come on your podcast.

20:42Piers Morgan:Full disclosure, I did when you asked me. I came on, I helped you out, got your numbers up. But Andy Murray didn't and you recently said, I wanted him on the podcast, he acted too important. There's your truth. It's like, bro, find some time. Is this a serious rift between you? Look, me and Andy would still be probably mates. I'm just saying, like, you know, I reached out to Andy, you know, multiple times for my show. You know, I've had amazing guests. You know, I've had amazing guests make time like yourself, Irina, Novak, Mike Tyson. I've had some incredible guests. And I understand we're all busy.