Overview
- Iga Swiatek said she did not watch the Dubai exhibition and argued women’s tennis stands on its own, pointing to the mixed-team United Cup as a better way to bring the tours together.
- Nick Kyrgios defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-3 in Dubai under modified rules that shrank Sabalenka’s court by about 9% and limited both players to one serve.
- Aryna Sabalenka proposed a rematch with format tweaks that would give her two serves while Kyrgios keeps a full court, and Kyrgios replied “IM IN” on X; no match has been scheduled.
- Billie Jean King said comparisons to her 1973 match with Bobby Riggs are misplaced because that contest carried social-change stakes, as critics labeled the Dubai event a promotional spectacle.
- Both players defended taking part as good for tennis and have shifted to their early-season events, with Sabalenka beginning her Brisbane title defense and Kyrgios starting his ATP warm-up schedule.