BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The Battle of the Sexes exhibition was a bit of fun for Aryna Sabalenka, and a showdown she also regarded as good preparation for the Australian Open.
In her first match since playing Nick Kyrgios in Dubai last month, top-ranked Sabalenka overwhelmed No. 50 Cristina Bucsa 6-0, 6-1 on Tuesday to start her title defense at the Brisbane International. The aim was to lay down a marker ahead of a potential quarterfinal against Madison Keys, who had a 6-4, 6-3 win over McCartney Kessler.
The exhibition attracted some criticism but also, at least as far as Sabalenka is concerned, a lot of positive attention.
“It was fun. It was a great challenge. I think we brought so many eyes on tennis," she said. "What I’m sad about is that some people got it wrong, the whole idea of that event.
"And I don’t care. I feel like there’s always going to be people who don’t like you, don’t respect you, don’t support you, but there’s so many people who support me, who really cheer me on and who find inspiration in me. I’m focusing on that part.”
Sabalenka's focus now is getting back onto a winning roll in Australia. She won back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2023 and '24 and was on a 20-match winning streak at Melbourne Park until a loss in last year's final to Keys.
“Going into (Tuesday's) match, I was just playing my tennis, I was focusing on my game, on things that I was working on,” Sabalenka said, adding that the exhibition with Kyrgios helped. “I mean, when you play against the guys, the intensity is completely different, especially when there is Nick who is like drop shotting every other shot, so you move a lot. So there was a great, great fitness for me.”
It wasn't so great for the often-injured Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist and former Brisbane International winner who lost 6-3, 6-4 to No. 58 Aleksandar Kovacevic in his first ATP Tour match since March.
He's been restricted to just six matches in the last three years because of knee and wrist surgeries.
The mercurial Australian has been playing exhibitions in an effort to get back into touch and if he doesn't get a wildcard entry for the Australian Open, he's planning on entering qualifying.
For No. 7 Keys, preparation for an attempted Australian Open title defense will go via Brisbane and then Adelaide, where she won last year to kick start her run to a first Grand Slam title.
“Last year was a dream come true,” Keys said. “I would obviously love a repeat of last year. That is always the goal.”
Aryna Sabalenka acknowledges the crowd after losing against Nick Kyrgios in their Battle of the Sexes match, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (Christopher Pike/Pool Photo via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela in back-to-back actions in North Atlantic and Caribbean, officials revealed early Wednesday morning.
U.S. European Command announced the seizure of the merchant vessel Bella 1 for “violations of U.S. sanctions” in a social medial post. The U.S. had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a U.S. blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.
Then, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revealed that U.S. forces also took control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean in a social media post. Noem said both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”
The U.S. military seized the Bella 1 and subsequently handed over control of it to law enforcement officials, said a U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
The ship was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. The U.S. Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean in December as it headed for Venezuela. The ship refused boarding and headed across the Atlantic.
During this time, the Bella 1 was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia, shipping databases show. The U.S. official also confirmed that the ship's crew had painted a Russian flag on the side of the hull.
Earlier Wednesday, open-source maritime tracking sites showed its position as between Scotland and Iceland, traveling north. The U.S. official also confirmed the ship was in the North Atlantic.
U.S. military planes have flown over the vessel, and on Tuesday a Royal Air Force surveillance plane was shown on flight-tracking sites flying over the same area.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said before the seizure that it was “following with concern the anomalous situation that has developed around the Russian oil tanker Marinera.”
The ministry’s statement, which was carried by the official Tass news agency, added that “for several days now, a U.S. Coast Guard ship has been following the Marinera, even though our vessel is approximately 4,000 km from the American coast.”
In a post to social media, U.S. European Command confirmed that the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro tracked the ship ahead of its seizure “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court.”
The military command went on to say that the seizure supported President Donald Trump’s proclamation on targeting sanctioned vessels that “threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere.” The tanker’s seizure comes just days after U.S. military forces conducted a surprise nighttime raid on Venezuela’s capital of Caracas and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
In the wake of this raid, officials in Trump's Republican administration have said that they intended to continue to seize sanctioned vessels connected to the country.
“We are enforcing American laws with regards to oil sanctions,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC on Sunday. “We go to court. We get a warrant. We seize those boats with oil. And that will continue."
A local walks past a mural featuring oil pumps and wells in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A government supporter holds an image of President Nicolas Maduro during a women's march to demand his return in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, three days after U.S. forces captured him and his wife. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
