Overview
- Iga Swiatek said she did not watch the event and argued that women’s tennis stands on its own without intergender showpieces.
- Nick Kyrgios beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-3 in Dubai under modified rules that limited players to one serve and gave Sabalenka a smaller court.
- Swiatek emphasized there were no meaningful parallels to Billie Jean King’s 1973 match, which she said carried a different purpose.
- Billie Jean King said the only similarity to 1973 was the genders of the players and reiterated that her match was about social change.
- Coverage noted criticism that the exhibition felt gimmicky, while Kyrgios and Sabalenka defended it as a buzz-generating showcase for the sport.