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Nick Kyrgios has hit out at those criticising his upcoming Battle of the Sexes match against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Their upcoming showdown - which will be played in Dubai and broadcast live on the BBC in the UK - has received some backlash from those who fear it could set women's tennis back, or believe there is no point in playing the match.

There have been three other matches billed as a Battle of the Sexes in tennis history. Famously, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in three straight sets in September 1973 in a landmark occasion for women's sports. But King herself says Sabalenka's upcoming clash with Kyrgios is "not the same" as her trailblazing moment.

King was part of the Original Nine, who founded the WTA Tour we know today. She faced Riggs that same year. And the tennis icon told BBC Sport: "The only similarity is that one is a boy and one is a girl. That's it. Everything else, no. Ours was about social change; culturally, where we were in 1973. This one is not. I hope it's a great match - I want Sabalenka, obviously, to win - but it's just not the same."

The fourth interaction of the Battle of the Sexes will be a best-of-three set match, with a first-to-10-point tiebreak played in place of a third set. Both players will only have one serve, and the court dimensions will be nine per cent smaller on Sabalenka's side.

King continued: "I played Bobby three out of five sets, I played on a court and didn't change anything. I said, 'Look, I play straight up or else I'm not going to play'. And Bobby loved it. Mine was really political. It was rough, culturally, what was coming in with it. I knew I had to beat him for societal change. I had a lot of reasons to win."

The Hall of Famer also made it clear that she and the Original Nine "never" claimed they were better than their male counterparts. "We have talked about our entertainment value - sometimes a women's match ends up being better than a guy's match. I get upset when people say you think you are better. We have never said that, never," she added.

King herself isn't sure whether Sabalenka's clash with Kyrgios could undermine women's tennis. It's been a concern among some fans, but four-time Major winner Sabalenka doesn't believe the match or outcome will be "damaging" for the women's game.

Kyrgios has also hit out at those who have criticised the match. Taking to Instagram, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist wrote: "Btw all the negative comments towards the Battle of the Sexes are doing nothing but giving it more attention. At the end of the day, Aryna will go down as one of the greatest players to play this game. I will have entertained crowds around the world.

"We are two humans that are good friends and want to put on a show and get more eyes on tennis. Not all this other BS - does this not look like TENNIS is going in the right DIRECTION? Sit back and enjoy the show - we both love the challenge and are going into this with no real experience. No one cares what you have to say."

Kyrgios' showdown with Sabalenka will take place at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on December 28 and will be broadcast on BBC One at 3.45pm GMT with Clare Balding and Andrew Cotter involved in coverage.