In the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ event held at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on the 28th, the world’s No. 1 women’s professional tennis player, arynasabalenka, lost 0-2 (3-6, 3-6) to Nick Kyrgios (k1ngkyrglos).
Kyrgios, currently ranked 671st in the men’s professional tennis world rankings, has played only 5 matches in 2025 due to injury, but is the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2022 and was once ranked 13th in the world. On the other hand, Sabalenka is this year’s US Open winner and four-time Grand Slam champion.
In the game, Sabalenka’s court was reduced by 9% and a modified rule was applied in which a point was immediately conceded due to a single serve mistake without a second serve. Although the conditions were unfavorable for a male player with a strong serve, Kyrgios won in 70 minutes. The prevailing opinion is that it was a game close to a show, with plenty of entertainment elements such as underhand serves, Macarena dancing during timeouts, and over-gruntting.
The game on this day was sold out, with a capacity of 17,000, and the highest ticket price was 1.15 million won. Sabalenka, who lost while many people were paying attention, expressed her intention for a rematch, saying, “I definitely want to get revenge next time.”
Even though the size of the female player’s court was reduced by 9% and a handicap of 1 point was given for one serving mistake, the male player won 2-0.