{"id":1520,"date":"2025-12-28T21:44:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1520"},"modified":"2025-12-28T21:44:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:44:25","slug":"former-british-no-1-delivers-a-damning-verdict-as-nick-kyrgios-beats-aryna-sabalenka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=1520","title":{"rendered":"Former British No 1 delivers a damning verdict as Nick Kyrgios beats Aryna Sabalenka"},"content":{"rendered":"

The reaction to Battle of the Sexes match between Nick Kyrgios<\/a> and Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> has been coming in and the general consensus appears to be negative.<\/p>\n

A host of high profile journalists on X were quick to suggest the 6-3, 6-3 win for Kyrgios counted for little in a match that failed to catch fire, with the reduced court Sabalenka was playing on one of many reasons why critics were quick to condemn the contest in Dubai.<\/p>\n

Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski delivered his verdict in the latest of his Off Court Cuts<\/a> show, that is part of his recently launched Off Court with Greg podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked before the match on our podcast whether it was a gimmick and the answer is\u2026 gimmick, gimmick gimmick,\u201d said Rusedski.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not enjoy it. I just thought Kyrgios was dictating. Let\u2019s not forget he was No 671 in the world. Did we actually need this and was it good for tennis? I\u2019m not so sure.<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/h2>\n

Biggest fears dispelled as Nick Kyrgios makes Aryna Sabalenka an offer after Battle of the Sexes showdown<\/a><\/p>\n

Patrick Mouratoglou makes revealing comments over contentious Battle of the Sexes clash<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt really didn\u2019t feel like a match. Sabalenka is a brilliant tennis player. The world No 1, a multiple Slam winner. I just don\u2019t think we need this for our sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a guy who is not in shape and who hasn\u2019t played for three years. You can see him sweating profusely on court and this just didn\u2019t work for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big of a purist and I\u2019d rather watch the mixed doubles exhibition they had at the US Open. For me that is better value and a better advertisement of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former British No 1 Annabel Croft also gave her verdict on the BBC and she also felt the Kyrgios vs Sabalenka spectacle failed to live up to it\u2019s billing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it didn\u2019t quite live up to what I thought it might be,\u201d said Croft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a lot to do with how he played the game. He did what he does on the tour generally.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a very awkward customer for anyone. Slice, choppy forehands, slow balling, awkwardness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ball was moving a lot, particularly on his serve. The way it moved in the air, you could see she was returning way outside the court.<\/p>\n

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cHe was very smart how he played. You felt like at any point he could dip into other gears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like it showcased her enough, of what we know she is capable of.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps it was disappointing for how it could have showcased her, but it had it\u2019s moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe certainly didn\u2019t embarrass herself in any way. I didn\u2019t expect her to win that match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got the impression he would quite like to play her again. Next time, they must not take her first serve away. That was the huge difference between the two.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been much more interesting if she had her first serve. It takes away a major part of how she sets up her tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Nick Kyrgios confirms his comeback tournament \u2013 and this might be his last chance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Former British No 1 delivers a damning verdict as Nick Kyrgios beats Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reaction to Battle of the Sexes match between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka has been coming in and the general consensus appears to be negative. A host of high profile journalists on X were quick to suggest the 6-3, 6-3 win for Kyrgios counted for little in a match that failed to catch fire, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1520\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}