25/12/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | DEC 25, 2025

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Tennis supremacy tug-of-war ‘Sincaraz’ rivalry lights up 2025 season, women’s game showcases depth

PIN HIGH Koepka leaves LIV Golf: Official

FIVE-TIME major winner Brooks Koepka has left LIV Golf for family reasons, the Saudi-backed circuit announced yesterday. Koepka, who was one of the highest profile players to join LIV when the renegade tour launched in 2022, could now be in line for a return to the PGA Tour, according to US reports. “We have amicably and mutually agreed that Brooks Koepka will no longer compete in the LIV Golf League, following the 2025 season,”LIV Golf chief executive Scott O’Neil said in a state ment. “Brooks is prioritizing the needs of his family and staying closer to home. We appreciate the significant impact he has had on the game and wish him continued success, both on and off the course.” Koepka’s decision comes after his wife, Jena Sims, revealed in October she had suffered a miscarriage 16 weeks into preg nancy. His representatives said the 35-year-old American, who won back-to-back US Opens in 2017 and 2018, had decided to spend more time with his family. “Family has always guided Brooks’s decisions, and he feels this is the right moment to spend more time at home,” Koepka’s representatives said in a statement. “Brooks will continue to be a huge supporter of LIV Golf and wishes the league and its players continued success.” Under current rules, LIV Golf players must serve a one-year suspension before being allowed to return to the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour was non-committal yesterday about a possible timeline for Koepka’s return to the tour. “Brooks Koepka is a highly accomplished professional, and we wish him and his family continued success,” it said in a state ment to ESPN . “The PGA Tour continues to offer the best professional golf ers the most competitive, challenging and lucrative environ ment in which to pursue greatness.” Japanese golf star ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki dies aged 78 JAPANESE star Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, has died of colon cancer, his son announced on Tuesday. He was 78. Ozaki won 94 times on the Japan Tour – his first title coming in 1973 – and won the Order of Merit a record 12 times. Nicknamed“Jumbo”because of his length off the tee, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011 after being named on 50 percent of international ballots. Ozaki died“due to stage 4 sigmoid colon cancer”on Tuesday, his son, Tomoharu, said yesterday in a statement obtained by AFP . After being diagnosed with cancer about a year ago, the golfer has been undergoing treatment at home, Tomoharu said, adding his father’s funeral will be attended by close family. Ozaki “explosively elevated the popularity of golf (in Japan) with his overwhelming driving distance and colourful personal ity”, the Yomiuri daily said in an obituary yesterday. Ozaki was a member of a successful golf family, with younger brothers Naomichi (Joe) and Tateo (Jet) both among the Japan Golf Tour’s top 20 all-time money winners. In 2013, when he was 66 years old, Ozaki struck a nine under-par 62 to to shoot his age in a domestic tour event. “Shooting my age is not something I try to do,” Ozaki said after taking the first-round lead at the Tsuruya Open. “But if you can’t shoot 6-under or 7-under par when you play good golf, you don’t belong on the tour,” he told reporters, according to Kyodo News . Yutaka Morohoshi, chairman of the Japan Golf Tour Organisation, said the golf world had lost a “great”. “He long steered the men’s professional golf world and over whelmed others

Italy’s Jannik Sinner (right) and Carlos Alcaraz celebrate with their trophies after after the ATP Finals at the Palasport Olimpico in Turin, Italy on Nov 16. – REUTERSPIC

C ARLOS ALCARAZ and Jannik Sinner turned 2025 into a grip ping tug-of-war for tennis supremacy by carving up the Grand Slams for a second straight year, while the women’s game showcased depth and drama with four different major champions. Sinner’s dominant victory over Alexander Zverev at the start of the sea son helped him retain his Australian Open title and become the first Italian to capture three majors, moving past Nicola Pietrangeli who won back-to back French Opens in 1959-60. What followed after Sinner’s three month ban in February for anti-doping violations in 2024 was nothing short of spectacular, as he took his era-defining rivalry with Alcaraz to the biggest stage in an epic five-set Roland Garros final. Alcaraz ultimately prevailed after saving three match points – one of the sport’s great comebacks in the longest Paris final at five hours and 29 minutes - with the Spaniard establishing himself as the “Prince of Clay” in the post-Rafa Nadal era. The “Sincaraz” slugfest continued in the Wimbledon final, where Sinner avenged his painful defeat by beating Alcaraz to raise his first trophy on the famous All England Club lawns, per fectly setting up their inevitable US Open showdown. After thumping Novak Djokovic in the semifinal to prolong the Serb’s wait for a record 25th major title, Alcaraz daz zled under New York’s lights to disman tle Sinner in the final and tighten his grip

was comprehensively beaten in the WTA Finals decider, where Elena Rybakina pocketed US$5.2 million (RM21m) after a flawless Riyadh cam paign. Larger prize pots were a major talk ing point through the season as the Professional Tennis Players’ Association filed a lawsuit against the sport’s stake holders while leading players wrote to the Grand Slams seeking a bigger slice of the pie. While off-court battles over pay and governance rumbled on, opportunities were scarce beyond the duopoly at the top of the men’s game, leaving Djokovic to provide the year’s standout moments for the chasing pack. The 38-year-old Serb limited

on their rivalry. “I give 100% every day to improve … to see what I can do better to beat Jannik and win these kinds of trophies,” Alcaraz said after his second US Open triumph. “Having this rivalry means a lot. It’s super special for me, for him and for people who enjoy it every single time we play.” With six Grand Slam titles under his belt to Sinner’s four, Alcaraz will look to eclipse Nadal and become the youngest man to complete the set of all majors when he heads Down Under in the New Year. Melbourne provided the biggest sur prise in the women’s game as Madison Keys dethroned Aryna Sabalenka to win her first Grand Slam title at 29, the American becoming the fourth-oldest first-time major champion in the profes sional era that began in 1968. Coco Gauff hoisted the French Open title, beating Sabalenka in the final to give American fans another high point but Amanda Anisimova endured a bru tal reality check in the Wimbledon final, where Iga Swiatek triumphed without dropping a game. Anisimova shrugged off the double bagel and reached the US Open final but more heartbreak was in store as Sabalenka proved too strong in the bat

with his unparal leled strength,”he said in a state ment on the organi sa tion’s web site.

his appearances but sparkled with his 100th career title in Geneva and his 101st in Athens, where he paid an emotional tribute to his former coach Nikola Pilic, who died in September aged 86. The tennis world was in mourn ing again aged 92, shortly after Italy retained the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup trophies and Sinner beat new world number one Alcaraz to retain the ATP Finals title. – Reuters following the death of Pietrangeli

tle of big-hitters and retained her title, taking her Grand Slam tally to four. Sabalenka’s hopes of fin ishing the season with another title were dashed when the world number one

Filepic taken on June 20, 2013 by Jiji Press shows Japanese golfer Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki in action. – REUTERSPIC