tennis

Azarenka's resilience came to the forefront as she unleashed 11 aces, crucially saving break points while serving for the match. Notably, the Belarusian minimized her unforced errors to 17, a pivotal factor in her triumph compared to her opponent's 30.

Balaji and Cornea, entered the competition as an alternate pair, will now face the 10th-seeded duo of Marcelo Arevalo from El Salvador and Mate Pavic from Croatia in the next round. Balaji, ranked 79th in ATP doubles, partnered with Cornea, ranked 69th, for this tournament.

Fourth seed Jannik Sinner secured a straight sets victory over Jesper de Jong, continuing his quest for a first Grand Slam title. Australia's Alex de Minaur impressed with a dominant 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 win over Matteo Arnaldi, extending his season record to 5-1.

The 26-year-old Indian, who was denied a regional wild card opportunity by the AITA due to his refusal to play Davis Cup, navigated through qualifiers to achieve this remarkable victory. Nagal's win against Bublik is the first by an Indian against a seeded player in a Grand Slam main draw in 35 years, echoing the achievement of Ramesh Krishnan in 1989.

Having participated in two exhibition matches as part of his preparation, Alcaraz secured a victory against Djokovic in Riyadh on December 27 but faced a setback, falling to Alex de Minaur in a charity match in Melbourne last week.

The match proved to be a stern test of Swiatek's credentials, as Kenin sought redemption for her loss to the Polish sensation in the 2020 French Open final. Despite a strong start from Kenin, breaking Swiatek's serve twice in the first set, the determined world No. 1 rallied back, forcing a tie-break and ultimately claiming the set.

Kohli shared the story during a video on bcci.tv, stating, "I got in touch with Novak very organically. When I saw his profile on Instagram, I pressed the message button, I thought I would just message him.

The story began with Kohli extending a simple greeting to the 24-time Major champion on social media. To his surprise, Djokovic had already messaged him, kickstarting their friendship.

The narrative between Alcaraz and Djokovic unfolded in intriguing chapters in the previous year. Djokovic claimed victory in their Roland Garros semi-final clash, but Alcaraz sought redemption at Wimbledon, securing his second Grand Slam in a thrilling five-set match.

Medvedev expressed his respect for Nadal's track record of winning many matches and the difficulty of beating him. While discussing the potential matchup, Medvedev admitted that facing Nadal would be a formidable challenge and highlighted the uncertainty surrounding Nadal's current form and fitness.