Battle of the Sexes Highlights, Aryna Sabalenka vs Nick Kyrgios: Kyrgios beats Sabalenka in straight sets, wins in Dubai

"It was a tough match. She is a hell of a competitor. I did not know what to expect. She broke my serve numerous times, and I had to strap in. It was a really hard fought battle. It was truly a spectacle and I think this could be a key part of tennis in the future."

"The scoreline was actually closer than it looked. I was under the pump there."

"Some of the shots that she played from side to side. You see the top men's players play. I think that the difference between the men's and the women's player is much closer than it was."

"It was different. The court was different, I had to make some adjustments. Playing against the guys is completely different. I am going to take a couple of days off to recover and I am looking forward to the new season."

"It was a great time tonight. He was struggling. I moved a lot, played some great shots. He made me run hard. I would love to play again."

Nick Kyrgios wins! And he finishes off the match 6-3, 6-3.

The dream finish, of Aryna Sabalenka winning will not be realised today. But she tried hard, and made Kyrgios sweat in Dubai.

The crowd goes silent as Nick Kyrgios leads 5-3 against Sabalenka and gets close to the victory.

On social media, the match is being called out for its weird gameplay.

Wonder how the reception will be when Sabalenka loses in straight sets.

Kyrgios draws level against Sabalenka.

He first draws level and now serves to take a lead of 4-3. I think Kyrgios is struggling with something physical and wants this to be over soon. The ideal thing for the broadcaster would have been a three-setter.

What on earth?

Sabalenka calls for a timeout, and shows off her dance skills as music blares out of the speakers in Dubai.

What is going on here?

Nick Kyrgios is struggling in the second set. He is sweating profusely at the moment.

Sabalenka has already broken the Australian in this set and is trying to go 3-1 up.

Serving to win the game, Sabalenka takes a lot of time to win that final point. But she does it, after Kyrgios' down the line top spinning forehand goes slightly out of the court.

If it was a regular court, this would have been a top shot.

Sabalenka leads 3-1 in the second set. Can she take this one and push the match into the third set?

The organisers would love that.

Nick Kyrgios' plan is simple here in Dubai. He does not want to run too much. He is sending a booming forehand and then playing his drop shots.

Sabalenka is finding it difficult to adjust to the changes of pace. Many a times, Sabalenka is hitting them into the nets, while rushing forward.

Nick Kyrgios wins the first set 6-3 as Sabalenka fails to survive the Australian's change of pace. Kyrgios plays a couple of drop shots into the backhand corner, which Sabalenka fails to send back.

1st set done. Kyrgios wins it 6-3.

Brazil's Ronaldo and Kaka are in the attendance tonight as Kyrgios and Sabalenka go toe to toe in the Battle of Sexes.

Kyrgios wins in his serving game and is now leading 5-3.

The Australian's forehands are too hot to handle for Sabalenka.

Nick Kyrgios is being stretched by Aryna Sabalenka, who seems to have found her rhythm. The Belarusian is hitting some strong forehands but has not been able to break Kyrgios again.

A forced error from Sabalenka's side, where she hits her deep forehand long, earns Kyrgios the win in the 7th game. The Australian leads 4-3 in the first set.

This is what I was afraid of.

The sexism against Sabalenka begins.

Wow Sabalenka! She is giving this a proper fight. First she swings Kyrgios from side to side and ends up hitting the winner backhand into the net, but then forces the Australian to commit multiple mistakes. The crowd is on its toes as Sabalenka fights to 3-3 in the first set.

Aryna Sabalenka is playing in full force. She is panting, grunting and shouting in signature style as she hits every shot.

Just as I write it, Sabalenka breaks Kyrgios. Multiple faults from the Australia, forced errors, faults, while trying to be cheeky and Sabalenka breaks thej Australia.

It is 2-2 in the first set now.

Nick Kyrgios is leading 3-1 in the first set and is yet to be broken.

To remind you, he is ranked above 1000 in men's singles. Sabalenka is ranked 1 in women's singles.

The serve is understandably visibly better from Kyrgios. He takes no time to go level 1-1 against Sabalenka.

As Sabalenka serves for the second time, Kyrgios makes her go side to side and kind of toys with her while standing at the centre of the court. Sabalenka is sliding and panting, but she cannot do anything about it.

Sabalenka loses this game without winning a single point. Kyrgios breaks Sabalenka.

You cannot miss this...

A tremendous cross court backhand from right to left as Sabalenka edges past Krygios.

She doubles down on it by winning the next point as well, winning the first game.

Kyrgios is not playing to his full speed. Wonder if that is a court thing or an exhibition thing.

Two quick points for Sabalenka after losing the first point. The first one - Kyrgios top edges the topspinning forehand and sends it high, beyond the court.

Aryna Sabalenka is serving. And she starts with a top-spinner instead of a natural first serve.

Interesting.

And she loses the rally by hitting her forehand on the net. Point to Kyrgios. 

A WWE/Boxing style entry for Sabalenka. Who is wearing a shiny overcoat and walks through the stands and comes down the court, dancing to Eye of the Tiger!

Very cool I must say. I forgive the Battle of Sexes for the weird court.

Visually, it looks weird man!

One side of the court is normal, and the other side is slightly smaller.

Alright then. The Coca Cola Arena in Dubai is sold out. The players have arrived!

The players are being introduced to the crowd and we will begin soon after.

The scene did not end there. As after declining several times, Billie Jean King finally gave in, knowing well what her loss could mean.

Two years later, she played Bobby Riggs, in straight sets.

She later went onto say that she only took up the challenge because Margaret Court had lost.

Her win turned out to be an important symbol in the tennis fraternity and to women around the world as well.

Here's a small history behind the whole set-up.

It all started back in 1973 when 55-year-old Bobby Riggs boasted that he could still defeat any top women’s player, dismissing their tennis as “inferior”.

Riggs, who had retired from professional tennis in 1951, publicly challenged world number one Billie Jean King to an exhibition match, but she turned the offer down.

The challenge was instead accepted by King’s Australian rival Margaret Court, who agreed to play during a season in which she had already won the Australian Open and the French Open.

Court received a guaranteed payout of $20,000 for the televised exhibition in May 1973. The match ended in a one-sided result, with Riggs winning 6-2, 6-1. The defeat was later infamously labelled the “Mother’s Day Massacre”.

According to data, women's players move 9 per cent slower than the men's players on the tennis court.

And that is the logic behind making Sabalenka's court smaller.

It is a little gimmicky, but let's see if that makes any impact.

“It has been one of the most talked-about events of the year. I don’t think any other tennis tournament has had such media coverage or attention.

“I know there will be many eyes on this match, but I just want to step on the court and show the world that great months are ahead.

“This is a great preparation for myself and Aryna. I know my role here, whether the villain or the good guy, is to show the world that this can happen more often. We are great friends off the court.”

Rather than me telling you, here is what Emma Raducanu had to say about training with Carlos Alcaraz, and how the men's players are different than women.

“It wasn’t long but I hit with Carlos in New York, and the impact of his ball… It looks like he’s not trying, but on your strings, it’s so heavy,” Raducanu said on what Sabalenka will have to deal with.

“That compared to a girl, usually they hit the ball flatter, except Iga [Swiatek] hits a very spinning ball. And there are certain exceptions on the women’s game. Aryna’s ball is pretty heavy, too.

“But I’d say the heaviness of the impact is different, and also just their strength in certain positions. You think you’ve hit a good shot, and they’re just able to get behind the ball like an extra step and generate and kind of one-up you and use your pace. That and the serve.”

Well, for starters, nobody wanted this. Your guess is as good as hours on why this is happening in the first place.

Second is, nobody wins here.

If Kyrgios wins - you will go duh, everyone knew that

If Sabalenka wins - you will go, Kyrgios let her win. Or this was an exhibition.

There is no point to it really.

Also a Sabalenka loss here will take women's tennis back several years, because people will start talking about the merit of the women's players again. Which is really unfair.

Here is how the trophy looks.

Sabalenka is out there on the court and has started preparing. 

Here is everything you need to know about the match.

There is a big gulf of quality, physicality, power and speed between men's and women's tennis and understandably so. Men serve bigger, move faster, simply due to their biological advantages.

Hence, to somewhat neutralise those advantages, this game is going to be played on a modified court.

Sabalenka's side is smaller by 9 per cent compared to regulation dimensions.

Also, players will only serve once per point. There is no fault or double fault here. You miss your serve, you lose the point. It is as simple as that.

The match itself will be played over three sets, with a 10-point tiebreaker deciding the contest if it is level after two sets.

The Battle of the Sexes match will start at 9:15 pm IST. It is going to be a three-set match with modified court dimensions and rules.

There is no good or bad answer to this. This is happening because there has been a big disparity between men's and women's tennis fans regarding the money that both sides earn by playing the same sport. 

Women's players are no less than men and perhaps this is an arrangement to bring focus on women's players – to show actually how good they are.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Battle of the Sexes. Aryna Sabalenka is taking on Nick Kyrgios in Dubai, in an exhibition game, and we are very interested in finding out how this whole thing is going to go down.

Catch our live updates on India Today as we build up for the match between the 4-time world champion and the Wimbledon finalist. Who do you think is winning this game?