Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka, her goddaughter Nicole, and Australia’s Nick Kyrgios rejoice with trophies after the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match in Dubai. Picture: REUTERS
DUBAI:
Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios defended their controversial “Battle of the Sexes” match and stated they failed to grasp why an exhibition aimed toward showcasing tennis drew a lot negativity from the tennis neighborhood.
Former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios defeated world primary Sabalenka 6-3 6-3 at a packed Coca-Cola Area on Sunday regardless of a number of rule tweaks applied by the organisers to degree the enjoying discipline.
Critics had warned that the match, a nod to the 1973 authentic “Battle of the Sexes” wherein ladies’s trailblazer Billie Jean King beat then 55-year-old former Grand Slam winner Bobby Riggs, risked trivialising the ladies’s sport.
King stated Sunday’s encounter lacked the stakes of her match whereas others, together with former doubles world primary Rennae Stubbs, stated the occasion was a publicity stunt and cash seize.
“I actually don’t perceive how folks had been capable of finding one thing unfavourable on this occasion,” Sabalenka informed reporters.
“I believe for the WTA, I simply confirmed that I used to be enjoying nice tennis; it was an entertaining match … it wasn’t like 6-0 6-0. It was an awesome combat, it was fascinating to observe and it introduced extra eyes on tennis.
“Legends had been watching; fairly huge folks had been messaging me, wishing me all the very best and telling me that they’re going to be watching from all totally different areas of life.
“The concept behind it’s to assist our sport develop and present tennis from a unique facet, that tennis occasions might be enjoyable and we will make it virtually as huge as Grand Slam matches.”
Kyrgios, who was as soon as ranked thirteenth on the planet however had tumbled to quantity 671 after accidents hampered his profession over the previous couple of years, pointed to how aggressive Sabalenka was towards him.
Kyrgios beats Sabalenka in ‘Battle of the Sexes’ showdown
“Let me simply remind you that I’m certainly one of 16 those that have ever overwhelmed the ‘Huge 4’ – Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafa Nadal have all misplaced to me,” Kyrgios stated.
“She simply proved she will be able to go on the market and compete towards somebody that’s overwhelmed the best of all time. There’s nothing however optimistic that may be taken away from this.
“Everybody that was unfavourable watched. That’s the humorous factor about it as nicely, like this has been essentially the most talked about occasion in all probability in sport within the final six months if we have a look at what number of interactions we had on social media, within the information.
“I’m positive the following time we do it, if I’m part of it and if she’s part of it, it’ll be a cultural motion that can occur extra typically, and I believe it’s a step in the best path.”
