Sabalenka credits ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis match for ‘great fitness’

Women’s fig 1 believes the lucifer against Nick Kyrgios helped her up the strength of her power-packed game.

Aryna Sabalenka believes her much-maligned “Battle of the Sexes” accumulation tennis lucifer against Nick Kyrgios has paid dividends for her preparations up of the Grand Slam season.

The satellite fig 1 demolished Cristina Bucsa successful the Brisbane International tourney connected Tuesday arsenic she gears up for adjacent week’s Australian Open archetypal round.

Sabalenka took conscionable 48 minutes to dispose of the Spaniard 6-0, 6-1 successful the 2nd circular of the season-opening tourney successful Queensland, Australia.

She raced done the archetypal acceptable successful conscionable 22 minutes and took lone 26 minutes to assertion the 2nd against an hostile who had nary reply to the powerfulness of the 27-year-old.

The easiness of the triumph against the satellite fig 50 volition nonstop a informing to the rubric contenders successful Melbourne, wherever Sabalenka volition look to triumph her 3rd Australian Open rubric successful 4 years.

Sabalenka said the information that she played truthful good successful her archetypal lucifer of the play showed that the December 28 accumulation successful Dubai against the mercurial but arguable Kyrgios was worthwhile.

“I mean, erstwhile you play against a guy, the strength is wholly different,” she said.

“Especially erstwhile determination is Nick, who is drop-shotting each different shot, truthful you determination a lot, truthful determination was large fittingness for me.

“And contiguous I was, like, whew, let’s determination around, you know.

“That exhibition, it was fun. It was a large challenge,” she added.

“I deliberation we brought truthful galore eyes connected tennis. It wasn’t astir proving thing to anyone, it was astir showing that tennis tin beryllium truly huge.”

Sabalenka volition present play either Jelena Ostapenko oregon Sorana Cirstea successful the 3rd circular and remains connected way to conscionable Madison Keys successful the quarter-finals successful a rematch of past year’s Australian Open final, won by the American.