Nick Kyrgios and women\u2019s world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka have hit back at critics of their much-hyped \u201cBattle of the Sexes\u201d exhibition match.<\/p>\n
Australian Kyrgios fended off the game\u2019s top female player with a 6-3 6-3 victory in front of a big crowd at Dubai\u2019s Coca-Cola Arena on Sunday, the 30-year-old admitting he was given a gruelling work-out.<\/p>\n
The clash borrowed its name from the 1973 match between 29-year-old tennis pioneer Billie Jean King and 55-year-old former grand slam winner Bobby Riggs, which King won in straight sets.<\/p>\n
But there were pre-event rumblings that this contest risked undermining advances in the women\u2019s game if Sabalenka was beaten too easily.<\/p>\n
King said Sunday\u2019s encounter lacked the stakes of her match, while others said the event was a publicity stunt and money grab.<\/p>\n
Yet the big-hitting Belarusian gave as good as she got, unleashing an impressive array of groundstrokes to really test her opponent, now No.671 in the rankings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly don\u2019t understand how people were \u200cable to find \u200bsomething negative in this event,\u201d Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for the WTA, I just showed that I \u200dwas playing great tennis; it was an entertaining match \u2026 it wasn\u2019t like 6-0 6-0. It was a great fight, it was interesting to watch and it brought more eyes on tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea behind it \u200bis to help our sport grow and show tennis from a \u200cdifferent side.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyrgios was quick to point out the significance of Sabalenka\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me just remind you that I\u2019m one of 16 people that have ever beaten the \u2018Big Four\u2019 \u2013 Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal have all lost \u200bto \u200bme,\u201d the Australian said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe just proved she can compete against someone that\u2019s beaten the greatest \u200bof all time. There\u2019s nothing but positives that can be taken away from this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios\u2019 career has been beset by injuries and surgeries, meaning he has played just six ATP Tour matches in more than three years.<\/p>\n
And it was no surprise he was blowing hard after the longer rallies on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The best-of-three sets encounter had modified rules, including just one serve for each player and a slightly smaller court for Sabalenka.<\/p>\n
She opened the match with a service hold before Kyrgios broke in the seventh game and secured the first set on the half-hour mark.<\/p>\n
The Canberra star took the first game of the second set, but Sabalenka fought back to win the next two and then held again for a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n
But Kyrgios again drew level before pulling away and sealing a straight-sets victory punctuated with trademark underarm serves and cheeky half-volley chips.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really tough match, she is a hell of a player and such a great champion,\u201d Kyrgios said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to play her again and showcase her talent and what I have left in the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite not playing in a Tour singles match since March, Kyrgios has received a wildcard entry for the January 4-11 Brisbane International, although he so far remains without an Australian Open entry.<\/p>\n
And he looked relieved to have come through what was always going to be a tricky test.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I was nervous. Not many people would have put their hand up to be in this position \u2026 honestly it\u2019s emotional,\u201d Kyrgios said.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Sabalenka, 27, arrived in dominant form after winning her fourth grand slam title at the US Open and banking 59 wins this season.<\/p>\n
The two-time Australian Open champion showed she is already looking good for another crack at the season\u2019s first grand slam in Melbourne next month.<\/p>\n
Source: AAP with Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Kyrgios and women\u2019s world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka have hit back at critics of their much-hyped \u201cBattle of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-376322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}