"Aryna Sabalenka is an embarrassment to women's tennis" - Fans baffled by Belarusian defending 'Battle of the Sexes' vs Kyrgios despite criticism

Aryna Sabalenka's firm defense of her 'Battle of the Sexes' clash against Nick Kyrgios rubbed several tennis fans the wrong way. The fans, despite the Belarusian's take, continued to criticize the reigning World No. 1 in women's singles tennis over her participation in the controversial exhibition event.

Kyrgios defeated Sabalenka 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday, December 28, in Dubai's Coca-Cola Arena. Following the result, the four-time women's singles Major champion interacted with reporters at a press conference. Here, she firmly stood by her choice to feature at the event and questioned the negativity surrounding it, claiming that it brought more attention to tennis.

"I don't understand how people were able to find something negative in this event. I was playing great tennis. It was an entertaining match and yeah, he won the match, but I showed great tennis. It wasn't like 6-0, 6-0. It was a great fight. It was interesting to watch. It brought more eyes on tennis," Sabalenka said. "I don't see how it can be bad, how you can talk negative about this. I 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, because I think the attention that we built up to this event was not less than a Grand Slam final," she added.

Most tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) weren't at all pleased with what Aryna Sabalenka had to say. Some ridiculed her for losing to Nick Kyrgios citing the Australian ATP star's lack of competitive playing time in recent years, current rank of World No. 671, and his 2023 guilty plea to assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Others questioned Sabalenka's moral compass by bringing up certain questionable past incidents involving her.

"Hence Prove: She is an idiot and Sabalenka is an embarrassment to women's tennis," one fan wrote. ""I don't understand" girl check comments all over internet laughing at you and mocking women's tennis then maybe you will understand you dumbo," commented another. "It was a sham and damaging to the women’s game. I’m normally a Sabalenka fan but am amazed she went along with it. While she was goofing around doing silly dances during the match, she had a face like thunder at the end that suggested she knew it had been a terrible mistake," another fan chimed in. "Relax lady. He’s ranked 673 haven’t played tennis for the last two and a half years. He’s practically retired. And to make matters worse they made the court smaller just for you to compete, and yet It was a comedy show," one opined. "Giving attention and promoting someone who beats women I really don't know what's wrong with that," added another. "Same way she doesn't get why celebrating NYE 2020 with Lukashenko after his brutal crackdown on Belarusians is a problem.... or her choosing to train in russia in late 2022... the lack of moral compass is frightening," weighed in yet another fan.

"Aryna Sabalenka can compete against someone that's beaten the greatest of all time" - Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios during his 'Battle of the Sexes' match against Aryna Sabalenka (Source: Getty)

Nick Kyrgios also voiced his objection to the criticism that came the way of the latest instalment of the 'Battle of the Sexes'. At a press conference of his own, the Australian brought up his past victories against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, and said that Aryna Sabalenka proved that she can compete with a player who has come out on top against the very best in the history of tennis.

"Let me just remind you that I’m one of 16 people that have ever beaten the Big Four. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal have all lost to me. She (Aryna Sabalenka) just proved she can go out there and compete against someone that’s beaten the greatest of all time. There’s nothing but positives that can be taken away from this," Kyrgios said.

With the 'Battle of the Sexes: The Dubai Showdown' now done and dusted, Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios will both turn their attention to the 2026 Brisbane International now, with the tournament set to mark both players' first competitive outings in the new tennis season.

Edited by Sudipto Pati