The Japan Times - 'Battle of the Sexes' rivals have mixed fortunes in Brisbane

While Sabalenka said the much-maligned exhibition had paid dividends in a straight-sets demolition of Cristina Bucsa, Kyrgios's comeback faltered at the first hurdle as he lost to American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 6-4.

Sabalenka, the world number one took just 48 minutes to dispose of Bucsa 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the season-opening tournament.

The ease of the win against the world number 50 will send a warning to the Belarusian's rivals ahead of the Australian Open starting January 18.

She raced through the first set in just 22 minutes and took only 26 minutes to claim the second against an opponent who had no answer to the power of the 27-year-old.

Sabalenka said the fact that she played so well in her first match of the season showed that the December 28 exhibition in Dubai against the mercurial but controversial Kyrgios had been worthwhile.

"I mean, when you play against a guy, the intensity is completely different," she said.

"Especially when there is Nick, who is drop-shotting every other shot, so you move a lot, so there was a great fitness for me.

"And today I was, like, whew, let's move around, you know."

Kyrgios is making a tentative comeback to the sport after an injury-ravaged three years saw him slip to 671 in the world.

In his first tour level match since March, the former Wimbledon finalist showed glimpses of his talent but lacked consistency against the solid Kovacevic.

"I feel good and I'm going to be able to try and use it as a building block," Kyrgios said.

"That's my goal obviously, and not just AO (Australian Open) but this year, for whatever this year holds.

"I do want to continue to play as much as I can, and we'll see."

Sabalenka will now play either Jelena Ostapenko or Sorana Cirstea in the third round and remains on track to meet Madison Keys in the quarter-finals in a rematch of last year's Australian Open final, won by the American.

Keys reached the Brisbane third round with a 6-4, 6-3 win over fellow American McCartney Kessler.

Like Sabalenka, Keys had a bye into the second round and said she had found it tough to find her rhythm early on.

"I think it's sometimes a little bit harder when the person you're playing has already played a match, and then you're kind of trying to still knock off a bit of the rust," she said.

"I felt like it took a little bit just to find my rhythm, but I feel like once I did it, I kind of settled in a little bit better."

There was carnage among the men's seeds with second-seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Tommy Paul (4) and Denis Shapovalov (5) all losing.

K.Yamaguchi--JT