Aryna Sabalenka had a blunt message when addressing the criticism over her Battle of the Sexes with Nick Kyrgios as the top-ranked WTA player stated that she "did not know what was negative" about her match.
As soon as it was confirmed that the match would take place on December 28th in Dubai, the match drew mixed reactions.
When it comes to the negative part, it was described as something that could possibly damage women's tennis image and reputation. With that being said, Sabalenka was the one who received the most criticism for accepting to be involved in such a match.
Earlier this month, the four-time Grand Slam champion defended herself by saying that she was "in a win-win situation" and that her match against Kyrgios could only take the women's game to "a higher place."
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On Sunday, Sabalenka competed well before losing 3-6 3-6 to Kyrgios. Needless to say, the reigning US Open champion instantly started receiving criticism, with some describing the match as "a farce" and something that definitely didn't benefit women's tennis.
However, the 27-year-old Belarusian had a prepared answer.
Sabalenka: I don't understand how people were able to find something negative in this event
I honestly dont understand how people were able to find something negative in this event. I think for the WTA, I just showed that I was playing great tennis; it was an entertaining match... it wasnt like 6-0, 6-0. It was a great fight, it was interesting to watch and it brought more eyes on tennis," the WTA world No. 1 stated.
Legends were watching; pretty big people were messaging me, wishing me all the best and telling me that theyre going to be watching from all different areas of life. The idea behind it is to help our sport grow and show tennis from a different side, that tennis events can be fun and we can make it almost as big as Grand Slam matches.
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Sabalenka not only defend her match against Kyrgios, but also indicated that it could happen again.
