After losing 3-6 3-6 to the Australian in Dubai, the top-ranked WTA player made an interesting comment by stating that she “knew the tactics for next time”.
To no one’s surprise, that comment was interpreted as Sabalenka expressing her interest in playing Kyrgios again.
The 2022 Wimbledon number two was directly asked to say something about this. And answering the question, the former ATP world number 13 confirmed he would be open to playing the four-time Grand Slam champion again. The 30-year-old also admitted that he felt very nervous and didn’t get much sleep in the build-up to the match.
Kyrgios: Not many top 100 players would put themselves in that pressure cooker
“Of course. She hated my guts after the match. She’s a competitor. I understand that too. I would love to do it again, but it’s not easy,” said the seven-time ATP champion.
“I know there would be guys in the top 100 who wouldn’t throw their hands up and put themselves in that pressure cooker here. That’s not easy. The build-up, the days. I didn’t sleep very well last night because I know whatever role I played in this wasn’t mentally easy to overcome and also perform in a classy way.”
Kyrgios opened the match with two early breaks, but Sabalenka recovered twice. However, the Australian still routinely won the first set after successive breaks in the seventh and ninth games.
Trailing by one set, Sabalenka responded with an early 3-1 lead in the second set. But Kyrgios had an answer, taking the next five matches to complete a two-set win.
It remains to be seen if we will see a rematch of the Kyrgios vs. Sabalenka match in the future.
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