Aryna Sabalenka began her Australian Open preparations by dismantling Cristina Bucsa at the Brisbane International, then credited her sharp performance to her much-maligned Battle of the Sexes exhibition against Nick Kyrgios.

Sabalenka's recent 6-3 6-3 defeat to Kyrgios – who has dropped to 671st in the ATP Rankings and only won one match since 2022 – was criticised by some players and pundits.

Iga Swiatek said women's tennis did not need another Battle of the Sexes, having come a long way since Bobby Riggs beat Margaret Court in the original edition in 1973.

But Sabalenka believes the exhibition match helped ready her for the new campaign, after needing only 49 minutes to power her way past Bucsa on Tuesday.

Sabalenka, who will now face either Jelena Ostapenko or Sorana Cirstea in the third round, said: "When you play against a guy, the intensity is completely different.

"Especially when it is Nick, who is drop-shotting every other shot, you move a lot, so there was a great fitness benefit for me. And today I was, like, whew, let's move around!"

Sabalenka then rebuffed criticism of her December 28 meeting with Kyrgios as she said: "That exhibition, it was fun. It was a great challenge. 

"I think we brought so many eyes on tennis. It wasn't about proving something to anyone, it was able to show that tennis can be really huge."

Australia suits you @SabalenkaA  pic.twitter.com/D7cx4vAKpN

— wta (@WTA) January 6, 2026

Sabalenka remains on course to face Madison Keys in the Brisbane quarter-finals, in what would be a rematch of last year's Australian Open final, after the American defeated compatriot McCartney Kessler 6-4 6-3 on Tuesday.

But the Belarusian's conqueror Kyrgios fell in the men's draw, going down 6-3 6-4 to Aleksandar Kovacevic in only 66 minutes.

Cameron Norrie defeated Ugo Humbert in three sets, but second seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was beaten by Brandon Nakashima and fifth seed Denis Shapovalov also made an early exit against Raphael Collignon.

Data Debrief: Irresistible performance from Sabalenka

Sabalenka never really offered Bucsa a chance in Tuesday's match, winning 71% of the total points on offer (54/76) as she triumphed for the 34th time in her last 36 matches in Australia.

As well as converting five of the six break points she generated, Sabalenka was fearsome with the ball as she served at 78%, then won 88% of second-serve points on the rare occasions where she misfired at the first time of asking.