![\"Aryna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/f98a1826-626a-43d3-9cc8-62cdee6b66c7.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe 2022 Wimbledon finalist, who has slipped to 671st in the rankings after three injury-hit years, had too much for Sabalenka, who was unable to get into her rhythm and showcase her best game in the adjusted format.<\/p>\n
Kyrgios looked tired but still prevailed as he mixed power with his usual array of unorthodox shots that kept Sabalenka guessing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really tough match,\u201d the Australian said in an on-court interview. \u201cShe\u2019s a hell of a competitor and such a great champion, obviously a multiple grand slam champion. I didn\u2019t know what to expect and what role I played \u2013 it was just another great opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe broke my serve numerous times and I had to strap in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coming five decades after Billie Jean King famously beat Bobby Riggs \u2013 a significant moment in the fight for greater equality in sport, in Houston in September 1973 \u2013 the merits of this contest in Dubai divided opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately it was a really hard fought battle, and there were breaks back and forward,\u201d Kyrgios added. \u201cSeeing someone as great as Sabalenka out here and myself, it truly is a spectacle, and a great stepping stone forward for the sport of tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aryna Sabalenka in action against Nick Kyrgios during The ‘Battle of the Sexes’ exhibition match. Photo: PA Wire<\/p>\n
Both players had only one serve, while Sabalenka\u2019s half of the court was nine per cent smaller than Kyrgios\u2019.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka made her big entrance in a silver sparkling jacket to the sounds of \u2018Eye of the Tiger\u2019 and used a fierce cross-court backhander to take the first game, though it did little to fire up the sell-out crowd of 17,000.<\/p>\n
Kyrgios responded quickly and broke Sabalenka\u2019s next serve as he got to grips with a slow court, and the decision to take away the first serve for both players clearly favoured the 30-year-old as Sabalenka surrendered points.<\/p>\n
It was perhaps a sign of how seriously the players were taking it that Sabalenka used her 60-second timeouts to dance the Macarena, but she could do little to reverse the trend in the second set as Kyrgios kept her at arm\u2019s length.<\/p>\n
When he got to match point he called his own timeout and the arena DJ played \u2018Stayin\u2019 Alive\u2019. Sabalenka did that by saving two match points, but she could not save a third.<\/p>\n
Despite defeat, Sabalenka said she would be keen to take on the Australian again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt great,\u201d she said. \u201cI think I put up a great fight and he was struggling, he got really tired.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was a great level, I made a lot of great shots, moved a lot to the net, drop shots. Really enjoyed the show. I felt like next time when I play him, I already know the tactics, I know his strengths and weaknesses, and it\u2019s going to be a better match for sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to challenge myself and I\u2019d love to play again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2022 Wimbledon finalist, who has slipped to 671st in the rankings after three injury-hit years, had too…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,898,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-215465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-latest-news-ticker","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}