The BBC were forced to issue an on-air apology because of a technical issue during Nick Kyrgios‘ match against Aryna Sabalenka. The contest, dubbed the Battle of the Sexes, took place in Dubai on a special court which was smaller on Sabalenka’s side. The BBC secured the broadcast rights and aired the match on BBC One, as well as on the iPlayer service.

The broadcast was going without a hitch until a technical problem reared its head in the second set, which involved a loss of pictures. It left commentator Andrew Cotter awkwardly filling the interruption until coverage resumed several minutes later. Fans were left unable to watch the action during the stoppage, with only the audio coming through.

As a result, the BBC switched to a wide shot of the arena and flashed a message on screen, which read: “Apologies for the loss of pictures.”

Cotter also took it upon himself to address viewers, saying: “I’m not sure what you’re seeing at home but we have lost our pictures here. I can see that Sabalenka has broken.”

Coverage of the match was able to resume after a delay of a few minutes, but the footage was still glitchy as the camera panned around the crowd inside the arena.

“We are struggling a bit with the pictures from Dubai and here are some people sitting at their tables,” said Cotter. “We’ll do our very best to get them back.

“We’ve got some pictures back. Again, apologies for a little bit of a break-up in the pictures. When I say a little bit, I mean a lot.”

The match sparked controversy in the build-up, with Billie Jean King questioning the need to pit the world’s best female player against a man who has seen his career falter out due to injuries and inactivity.

King, who famously defeated Bobby Riggs in the original Battle of the Sexes in 1973, said: “The only similarity is that one is a boy and one is a girl. That’s it.”

Others, including Emma Raducanu, were eager to watch the action. Before the start of play, the young Brit revealed that she was keen to see Sabalenka go up against former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios.

“Yeah, I want to see if they both go flat out, but it will be interesting,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll watch it all live, but I think I’ll watch some highlights or a recap of it.”

Sharing her own view on the technical differences between the men’s and women’s game, Raducanu explained: “I would say that is a big thing, the impact of their ball for example.

“It wasn’t long but I hit with Carlos [Alcaraz] in New York, and the impact of his ball is like… it looks like he’s not trying, but on your strings, it’s so heavy.

“That compared to a girl, usually they hit the ball flatter, except Iga [Swiatek] hits a very spinning ball. And there are certain exceptions on the women’s game. Aryna’s ball is pretty heavy, too.

“But I’d say the heaviness of the impact is different, and also just their strength in certain positions. You think you’ve hit a good shot, and they’re just able to get behind the ball like an extra step and generate and kind of one-up you and use your pace.

“Whereas, for example, when they play me, I’m just not able to be in that position and generate the same from that. So, I’d say that, and obviously the serve, which is a big difference.”