independent– Naomi Osaka reasserted her position as queen of the hard court with a straight sets victory over the American Jennifer Brady at the Australian Open. Osaka pinched a tight first set 6-4 and dominated the second to win 6-3 and close out her second title in Melbourne, and her
express– Rafael Nadal has appeared to warn Novak Djokovic over playing through the pain barrier at the Australian Open. Both Nadal and Djokovic have struggled with injury during the tournament in Melbourne. The Spaniard has a back problem and the Serbian an abdominal issue. Nadal beat Fabio Fognini in straight sets on Monday to reach the quarter-final stage.
express– Serena Williams raced into the third round of the Australian Open in her FloJo-inspired catsuit today. But fellow Grand Slam champions Stan Wawrinka, Bianca Andreescu and Petra Kvitova all made sharp exits from Melbourne. And US Open champion Dominic Thiem, who finished runner-up last year, showed he is also a contender for the title […]
the guardian– ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, this is …” Test cricket, finally back on free-to-air TV at the godawful hour of one, two, 3.35 in the morning. For 15 years, four months, and 22 days now the game has been going back-and-forth about whether or not people ought to be able to watch it live on […]
aljazeera– Barcelona will take legal action against the Spanish newspaper El Mundo after it published details of Lionel Messi’s current contract, which it says is worth up to 555 million euros ($674m) over four years. The club also insisted on Sunday they were not responsible for the leak, which it defined as a “private document […]
theguardian– Manchester City became the ninth team to top the Premier League this season but while Pep Guardiola claimed the table is the last thing he will look at, his team appear set to stay significantly involved in this title race. The numbers behind this victory are staggering but barely do justice to how superior […]
A “devastated” Andy Murray has been forced to withdraw from the Australian Open as he is unable to travel to Melbourne with a “workable quarantine” that would allow him to be ready to compete in the tournament, which begins on 8 February. “Gutted to share that I won’t be flying out to Australia to compete at the […]
theguardian– Manchester United are top of the Premier League at this stage of the season for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign which they ended by claiming a 20th title. For this they can thank Paul Pogba, the midfielder crowning a fine display with a sweet 71st-minute winner. This came when the Frenchman won […]
mirror– Tyson Fury has laughed off Anthony Joshua’s claims he is a ‘modern-day great’ – and trolled his rival over his infamous defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr. Joshua suffered the only defeat of his career so far against Ruiz in June 2019 when the unfancied American shocked the world by stopping the WBA, IBF and […]
bbc– Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is the main contender to take over at Paris St-Germain after Thomas Tuchel was sacked. On Tuesday, PSG announced Tuchel’s contract had been “terminated” and it is understood the club’s players are aware Pochettino will replace him. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi thanked Tuchel and said the