On December 28, 2025, Nick Kyrgios faced Aryna Sabalenka in a highly anticipated "Battle of the Sexes" exhibition match at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
The match featured entertaining moments, including
underarm serves from Kyrgios, powerful winners from Sabalenka, and light-hearted celebrations like bows and dances. Despite Sabalenka's efforts to rally in the second set with early breaks and aggressive play, Kyrgios maintained control, holding serve effectively and capitalizing on service faults under the modified rules.
The exhibition match between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka followed a best-of-three-sets format, with a 10-point match tiebreaker to decide a winner if the sets were split 1-1. To balance physical differences, organizers implemented several key modifications: only one serve was allowed per point, meaning any fault resulted in an immediate loss of the point, eliminating second serves and emphasizing accuracy over power. Sabalenka played on a court reduced by 9% in both width and length, with adjusted baselines and sidelines, while Kyrgios used the standard full-size court, a change based on average movement-speed disparities.
The indoor hard court was slower than typical tour surfaces, and there were no let calls on serves. These rules aimed to create a competitive spectacle but drew criticism for appearing gimmicky.
Who Won the Match?
Kyrgios, returning from injury and ranked far outside the top ranks, dominated the contest with his powerful serving and variety, defeating the women's world No. 1 in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Kyrgios had 1 ace to his name while he had just 1 fault. Apart from that, the Australian male tennis star made 6 unforced errors. Sabalenka, on the other hand, made 5 faults and only made 1 unforced error in the match, and she didn't manage an ace.
Aryna Sabalenka put up a valiant fight but the Australian was just too good for her, as the Male Tennis star won the 'Battle of the Sexes'.
