Aryna Sabalenka’s Coach Warns Nick Kyrgios Ahead of Battle of the Sexes: “She Trains with Men, She’s Strong and Fast”

Aryna Sabalenka was quite dominant on the tour this season as she reached nine finals, winning four titles, including the US Open. The WTA season has ended, and the Belarusian will be playing a match toward the end of this year.

On December 28, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka‘s agency, Evolve, will host the Battle of the Sexes. Sabalenka will be locking horns with Nick Kyrgios. Jason Tracy, one of Sabalenka’s coaches, thinks the Australian ace needs to be wary of his protege.

We sometimes train with some of the men, and she does well. She’s strong and fast. But she also knows that, especially on the serve, the difference is enormous. It’s a big difference. Just in terms of the speed of their movements, their power… But some of her forehands have the same speed as the men’s.

Jason Stacy said on The Line podcast

Kyrgios is dealing with fitness problems due to which he played just six tournaments this year, winning just one match- at the Miami Open, where he defeated Mackenzie McDonald in the first round. The 30-year-old made his return to the tour after 18 months at the Brisbane International.

The last singles match he played was against Karen Khachanov in the second round of the same tournament. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist was last seen in action at the Citi Open, where he played doubles alongside France’s Gael Monfils, losing in the first round at the hands of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Hugo Nys.

But Sabalenka finished the season with four titles from nine finals, including two Big Titles, at the Madrid Open and the US Open, by defeating Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova. The four-time Grand Slam singles champion also played the finals of the Australian Open and the French Open, but couldn’t end the matches in his favor, losing to Madison Keys and Gauff, respectively.

Jessica Pegula says she has enjoyed her matches against Aryna Sabalenka

Jessica Pegula trails 3-9 in the head-to-head matchups against Aryna Sabalenka. They have met four times this year, with the match ending in Pegula’s favor just once (in the Wuhan Open semifinals).

In spite of her head-to-head matchups, Pegula has enjoyed her matches against the 27-year-old. When the American was asked on The Player’s Box Podcast about her favorite matches where the results ended against her favor, Pegula picked her clashes with Sabalenka because of the challenges she dealt with.

I feel like I’ve had so many of them. Honestly, a lot of my recent matches with Aryna have been really good matches, like levels just super high, and you lose, but you feel like… You don’t feel that bad afterwards, because you’re like, wow, that was a really high-level match, like I had chances, whatever, but you feel like you put your best self out there. So I would say, just off of brief memory, honestly, most of my matches with Aryna over the last two years. I always come off the court feeling like that.

Jessica Pegula said

Pegula clinched three titles from six finals this year. The titles that she lifted were at the ATX Open, Charleston Open, and the Bad Homburg Open by defeating McCartney Kessler, Sofia Kenin, and Iga Swiatek, respectively. The 2024 US Open finalist lost two WTA 1000 finals. Sabalenka denied her the win at the Miami Open, while Coco Gauff defeated her at the Wuhan Open.

Pegula finished the season at the No.6th spot. At the Grand Slam events, she produced her best when she reached the semifinals of the US Open. In the previous three Majors, she failed to progress to the quarterfinals.

Also read: Toni Nadal Reveals Key Difference Between the Eras of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz

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