Aryna Sabalenka has defended her ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match with Nick Kyrgios, saying it “brought eyes on tennis.”

Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and current women’s No 1, was beaten in straight sets by Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist who has slipped to 671st in the men’s rankings, in last week’s exhibition match in Dubai.

Coming five decades after Billie Jean King famously beat Bobby Riggs – a significant moment in the fight for greater equality in sport, in Houston in September 1973 – the merits of this contest in Dubai divided opinion.

Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek insisted women’s tennis was strong enough to thrive without controversial ‌gender-based singles matches.

Critics had warned that the match risked trivialising the women’s ‍game.

Swiatek said she chose not to watch the Dubai contest, which King said lacked the stakes of her historic clash ‌and critics dismissed as a publicity stunt and cash grab.

Kyrgios defended his participation, saying he would do it again if given the chance, with Sabalenka also vindicating it, claiming people will find her performance “inspirational.”

The Belarusian, who resumed her preparations for the Australian Open by turning on the style to beat Cristina Bucsa 6-0 6-1 in ​47 minutes to reach the third round ‌at the Brisbane International, said: “What I’m sad about is that some people got it wrong, the whole idea of that event. I don’t care.

“I feel like there are always going to be people who don’t like you, don’t respect you, don’t support you. But there are so many people who support me who really cheer me on and who find inspiration in me, and I’m focusing on that part.

“I’m not even thinking about that exhibition. It was fun. It was a great challenge. I think we brought so many eyes on tennis.

“It wasn’t about proving something to anyone. It was about to show that tennis can be really huge and we can bring a lot of attention on the exhibition match, which usually never happens, and we just proved that, that’s all it was about – and fun.

“There are a lot of people who supported us, and I’m just focusing on that.

“Going into this match, I was just playing my tennis. I was focusing on my game, on things that I was working on. That’s it.”

Has exhibition with Kyrgios helped her?

Sabalenka’s focus now is getting back onto a winning roll in Australia where she went back-to-back in 2023 and ’24 and was on a 20-match winning streak at Melbourne Park until her shock defeat in last year’s final to Madison Keys.

And she feels the exhibition with Kyrgios has helped her fitness: “When you play against the guys the intensity is completely different, especially when there is Nick who is like drop-shotting every other shot, so you move a lot. So there was a great, great fitness for me,” added Sabalenka.

Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.