Aryna Sabalenka made Naomi Osaka drop and give her push-ups in a bizarre moment during their exhibition match in Las Vegas. The two players were involved in the MGM Rewards Slam, with Andre Agassi and Mardy Fish also taking part in a mixed doubles showcase. The event took place ahead of the Indian Wells main draw, which is set to get underway this weekend.
Sabalenka ended up as the victor in a match that was not taken too seriously, with the duo putting on a good show for those in attendance at the Michelob ULTRA Arena. At one point, she ordered Osaka to start doing push-ups after losing the first game of the second set to love.
Osaka struggled to cope with Sabalenka’s powerful serve and hit a forehand return long, handing the game to her opponent. Sabalenka responded by pointing at her rival and doing a push-up gesture, with Osaka immediately dropping to the court and making a start.
She completed a total of 10 push-ups, with the crowd counting each one, before climbing to her feet and laughing as the fans cheered loudly.
Later in the match, Sabalenka stunned Osaka by catching her off-guard with a perfect underarm serve, resulting in an ace. Osaka was clearly not expecting it and was left rooted to her mark as Sabalenka blew kisses to the crowd with a beaming smile on her face.
The match ended with a 6-4 6-4 scoreline in favour of Sabalenka, who will be hoping to follow up by winning Indian Wells later this month. She was eliminated from last year’s tournament in the fourth round by Emma Navarro and will be desperate to make amends.
The exhibition event in Las Vegas was initially set to be a two-day affair, with a slate of top men’s players booked for a round robin of 10-point tiebreaks on Sunday. Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul were the players scheduled to take part.
However, those fixtures were indefinitely postponed in light of Sinner’s doping ban and a potential injury to Fritz, who pulled out of the recent Mexican Open citing an abdominal issue.
Organisers adjusted the schedule by recruiting Agassi and Fish, who teamed up with Sabalenka and Osaka for a mixed doubles match. Agassi and Sabalenka were on the winning team, securing a narrow 10-8 victory over Fish and Osaka.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk