Women’s number one believes the match against Nick Kyrgios helped her to up the intensity of her power-packed game.
Aryna Sabalenka believes her much-maligned “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition tennis match against Nick Kyrgios has paid dividends for her preparations before the Grand Slam season.
The world number one demolished Cristina Bucsa in the Brisbane International tournament on Tuesday as she gears up for next week’s Australian Open first round.
Sabalenka took just 48 minutes to dispose of the Spaniard 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the season-opening tournament in Queensland, Australia.
She raced through the first set in just 22 minutes and took only 26 minutes to claim the second against an opponent who had no answer to the power of the 27-year-old.
The ease of the win against the world number 50 will send a warning to the title contenders in Melbourne, where Sabalenka will look to win her third Australian Open title in four years.
Sabalenka said the fact that she played so well in her first match of the season showed that the December 28 exhibition in Dubai against the mercurial but controversial Kyrgios was worthwhile.
“I mean, when you play against a guy, the intensity is completely different,” she said.
“Especially when there is Nick, who is drop-shotting every other shot, so you move a lot, so there was great fitness for me.
“And today I was, like, whew, let’s move around, you know.
“That exhibition, it was fun. It was a great challenge,” she added.
“I think we brought so many eyes on tennis. It wasn’t about proving something to anyone, it was about showing that tennis can be really huge.”
Sabalenka will now play either Jelena Ostapenko or Sorana Cirstea in the third round and remains on track to meet Madison Keys in the quarterfinals in a rematch of last year’s Australian Open final, won by the American.
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