Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka can\u2019t wrap her mind around some of criticism from fans after her loss to the Australia\u2019s Nick Kyrgios, 6\u20113, 6\u20113, in a \u201cBattle of the Sexes\u201d match in Dubai on Sunday.<\/p>\n
During a press conference after the exhibition, the top-ranked WTA player defended the event, explaining that she held her own against the 2022 Wimbledon finalist in front of \u201cpretty big people\u201d at Coca-Cola Arena. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand how people were able to find something negative in this event,\u201d Sabalenka said<\/a>. \u201cI was playing great tennis. It was an entertaining match. Yeah, he won the match, but I showed great tennis. It wasn\u2019t like 6-0, 6-0. It was a great fight. It was interesting to watch. It brought more eyes on tennis.<\/p>\n “I don’t understand how people were able to find something negative in this event.”<\/p>\n Battle of the Sexes has sure got people talking \ud83d\ude05 Agree with Aryna Sabalenka? pic.twitter.com\/GBB12OyVoV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLegends were watching this match. Pretty big people were messaging me wishing all the best and telling me that they were going to be watching from all different areas of life. I felt like we just brought more attention to our sport and I don\u2019t see how it can be bad \u2014 how you can talk negative about this.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the idea behind it is to help our sport grow and show tennis from a different side, that tennis events can be more fun, more entertaining, and we can make it almost as big as Grand Slam matches. I think that the attention we built up to this event was not less than a Grand Slam final.\u201d<\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka during a press conference after the Battle of the Sexes match against Nick Kyrgios at Coca-Cola Arena on December 28, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Getty Images<\/p>\n Sabalenka and Kyrgios faced off in a modern-day version of the 1973 battle between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. <\/p>\n King, who was fighting for women\u2019s rights and equal pay in tennis, won in straight sets.<\/p>\n Some of the backlash was due to different parameters in the match between Sabalenka and Kyrgios. <\/p>\n Sabalenka\u2019s side of the court was roughly 9 percent smaller than Kyrgios\u2019.<\/p>\n Nick Kyrgios of Australia plays a forehand against Aryna Sabalenka (not pictured) during the Battle of the Sexes match at Coca-Cola Arena on December 28, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Getty Images<\/p>\n Serena Williams\u2019 former coach, Rennae Stubbs, ripped the match and called it \u201ca money grab\u201d<\/a> for Sabalenka and Kyrgios.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s just call it was it was, shall we,\u201d Stubbs, a former six-time Grand Slam doubles champion, wrote on X. \u201cIt was a money grab for both players and their management group. Entertaining? You decide. Important? No.<\/p>\n \u201cNo top woman can compete with a good male player, it\u2019s NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE! But $$$ got got! So I hope it was worth it.\u201d <\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka plays a shot during the Battle of the Sexes match between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios of Australia at Coca-Cola Arena on December 28, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Getty Images<\/p>\n During his press conference after the win, Kyrgios backed Sabalenka,\u00a0telling reporters<\/a> that \u201cthere\u2019s nothing but positives that can be taken away from this.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t