The BBC was compelled to deliver an on-air apology following a technical malfunction that disrupted coverage of the much-anticipated Battle of the Sexes tennis encounter between Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka.
The exhibition match, staged in Dubai on a specially configured court with reduced dimensions on Sabalenka's side, was broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer.
Proceedings had been running smoothly until the second set, when pictures suddenly vanished from screens across the nation.
The broadcaster displayed a message reading: "Apologies for the loss of pictures."
The BBC were forced to apologise for the loss of pictures
|BBC
Viewers were left with only audio as the visual feed disappeared entirely.
Commentator Andrew Cotter found himself in an unenviable position, forced to fill the unexpected silence while the broadcast team scrambled to restore the feed.
"I'm not sure what you're seeing at home but we have lost our pictures here. I can see that Sabalenka has broken," Cotter told viewers, attempting to keep them informed of developments on court.
The interruption lasted several minutes, during which audiences could only listen to proceedings whilst staring at a wide shot of the Dubai arena.
Cotter gamely continued his commentary despite having no visual reference to share with those watching at home.
Nick Kyrgios and Aryna Sabalenka played out an exhibition match in Dubai
|PA
When the pictures finally returned after the delay, the footage remained far from stable, with cameras panning unsteadily across spectators seated in the venue.
"We are struggling a bit with the pictures from Dubai and here are some people sitting at their tables," Cotter remarked. "We'll do our very best to get them back."
The veteran broadcaster was refreshingly candid about the extent of the difficulties.
"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," he acknowledged to viewers, who had endured a frustrating interruption to the highly anticipated contest.
The contest had attracted considerable attention in the lead-up, though not all of it positive.
And that's all she wrote!
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) December 28, 2025
Nick Kyrgios defeats Aryna Sabalenka to win the Battle of the Sexes 👏 pic.twitter.com/9Yysdt6F5V
Billie Jean King, who triumphed over Bobby Riggs in the original Battle of the Sexes back in 1973, expressed scepticism about the matchup.
"The only similarity is that one is a boy and one is a girl. That's it," King remarked, questioning the wisdom of pitting the world's leading female player against a man whose career has been hampered by injuries and periods of inactivity.
British star Emma Raducanu took a more enthusiastic view, expressing her desire to see the former Wimbledon finalist take on Sabalenka.
Aryna Sabalenka lost in straight sets to Nick Kyrgios
|PA
"Yeah, I want to see if they both go flat out, but it will be interesting," Raducanu said.