Nick Kyrgios handed Aryna Sabalenka a straight-sets defeat in Dubai and left the crowd buzzing with plenty of on-court theatre.
The exhibition match in Dubai finished 6-3, 6-3 to Kyrgios, pitting the Australian maverick against the women’s world number one in a contest promoted as a playful showdown and billed with the evocative phrase fans immediately grabbed onto.
Match Recap
‘Battle of the Sexes’
Al Jazeera
Kyrgios produced a compact, entertaining performance that relied on big serves, short points when possible, and the kind of crowd-friendly antics the Australian is known for in exhibitions.
Sabalenka, the player introduced in coverage as the women’s world number one, showed the heavy groundstrokes and power that make her a Grand Slam contender, but struggled to find consistent answers to Kyrgios’s unpredictable patterns.
How The Match Played Out
The scoreboard read 6-3, 6-3, and the flow was dictated by Kyrgios early on as he seized a couple of key service games and turned tight rallies into quick finishes.
Sabalenka pushed from the baseline and had moments where her pace forced errors off Kyrgios’s racquet, but crucially she could not string enough those moments together to swing momentum in her favor.
Exhibitions like this often reward the player who varies rhythm and entertains without taking unnecessary risks, and Kyrgios leaned into that playbook while still producing high-quality strokes when the point demanded it.
Context And Reaction
It is worth stressing that this was an exhibition, not an official tour match, so the result does not affect rankings or tour points, yet it does contribute to the narrative lines around both players as they head into the season.
For Kyrgios, the win reinforces the public image of an unpredictable entertainer who can also turn in a serious showing on a given day, while Sabalenka will take practice, timing and some tactical notes from the outing.
Fans who attended the Dubai event left with the feeling that exhibitions can be a useful laboratory for players and a reminder that headline-grabbing matches do not have to be official to be memorable.
Organisers leaned into the spectacle, with hit-and-miss theatrics and moments designed to draw reaction, which in turn kept the match brisk and the headlines rolling across social media and sports pages.
Looking ahead, the match gives both competitors a chance to evaluate physical readiness and mental sharpness before competitive events resume, and it provides fans with a talking point that will surely follow them into the new season.
Kyrgios’s victory in Dubai is the sort of result that shows why exhibition tennis still matters to audiences; it mixes competitive tennis with showmanship and delivers a clear narrative without altering the professional record.
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Christoph Friedrich is a German tennis player and coach currently residing in Oakland, California. He began his tennis journey at the age of eight and has since dedicated his life to the sport. After working as a tennis coach and hitting partner in New York City for eight years, Christoph decided to share his knowledge and experience with tennis players around the world by creating the My Tennis Expert blog. His goal is to make tennis education accessible to everyone and help players select the best equipment for their game, from racquets and strings to shoes and overgrips. Christoph's extensive research and expertise in tennis technology make him a valuable resource for players of all levels.
