Aryna Sabalenka vs. Nick Kyrgios Battle of the Sexes Winner, Score, Rules & Highlights

Nick Kyrgios earned a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Aryna Sabalenka in their "Battle of the Sexes" on Sunday in Dubai.

This differed from a standard tennis match in two big respects.

Each player was afforded only one serve per point, which was intended to negate Kyrgios' clear edge in that regard. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist also had a smaller court — nine percent smaller to be exact — to hit the ball into.

Kyrgios cited the serving rules as a potential equalizer.

"The men's game is heavily reliant and dominated by first serve percentage and holding serve quite easy," he said. "So if you take that away the game becomes a bit more of a grind from the baseline and I think that slightly goes in her favor."

A 10-point tiebreaker would've decided the best-of-three contest if it had been required.

Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs' "Battle of the Sexes" in 1973 was a seminal moment for women's sports. The stakes were much lower Sunday, but Sabalenka and Kyrgios nonetheless did their best to make this a spectacle:

Early in the first set, it looked like the pair could have a competitive match. Absent some impressive groundstrokes from Sabalenka, though, the one-serve rule wasn't enough to cancel out Kyrgios' power advantage.

Sabalenka jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set before Kyrgios turned the tables and claimed the next three games. The 30-year-old had no designs on this going into a tiebreak.

With Kyrgios serving at 5-3, Sabalenka staved off three match point opportunities. But a wayward backhand return was the final blow to her comeback hopes as Kyrgios held on.

With Sunday's exhibition concluded, Sabalenka will shift her focus fully toward the first Grand Slam of 2026.

The main draws for the Australian Open are slated to begin Jan. 18 in Melbourne. The No. 1 women's player in the world will try to win her third title down under. She was the 2023 and 2024 Australian Open champion before Madison Keys took her down in the 2025 final.