07/01/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | JAN 7, 2026

28 ‘Everything I did was a problem’ Perez takes thinly-veiled swipe at former Red Bull teammate Verstappen S ERGIO PEREZ has opened up on his Red ally dumped in December, having scored just nine points across his final eight race weekends. right? Because being Max’s teammate at Red Bull is already very difficult, but being Max’s teammate at Red Bull is the best and the worst job in F1, by far.

Bull everything was a problem,” he added. “If I was very fast, it was a problem, because of course it created a very tense environment at Red Bull. If I was faster than Max, it was a problem. If I was slower than Max, it was a problem. “So everything was a problem. So I also learned a lot, right? That, well, the circumstances I’m in, instead of complaining, I have to make the best of it and get the most out of it.” Perez spent 2025 on the sidelines and used the year to recharge ahead of his return to F1 this year with debutants Cadillac. As the newest team on the grid, the American outfit has low expectations in terms of results and so the Mexican will find himself in a refreshingly low-pressure environment compared to his last taste of the sport. – Express Newspapers

Bull nightmare and claimed “pretty much everything” he did during his time as team mate to Max Verstappen “was a problem”. The Mexican spent four years as teammate to the Dutchman who won the drivers’ title in each of those campaign and, while he started well enough and won a handful of races, it eventually ended the same way as it does for every driver put up against Verstappen at Red Bull. The 2024 season was Perez’s final year at Red Bull and, although it started well enough, things began to sour after the first few rounds and follow ing the signing of a contract extension. Having started the campaign with four podi ums from five Grands Prix, Perez did not record another top-three finish all year and was eventu WORLD NO. 4 Coco Gauff suffered her first-ever defeat at the United Cup yesterday when she was stunned by Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-0 in a blow to her Australian Open preparations. But after Taylor Fritz won to level the tie for the United States, Gauff made amends with Christian Harrison in the mixed doubles, beating Ivonne Cavalle Reimers and Inigo Cervantes 7-6 (7-5), 6 0 to seal a quarterfinal spot. Gauff had won all six of her previous United Cup singles matches for the USA and had a 3-0 record in mixed doubles. It was the first win over a top-five player for Bouzas Maneiro. “I know Coco and she’s a fighter,” the 42nd-ranked Bouzas Maneiro said in Perth. “She’s there all the time in the match, so I knew that I had to be there. Even if you are 3-0 or 4-0 up, you have to be ready.” World No. 4 Fritz, who is battling a knee problem, needed more than three hours to beat Jaume Munar 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (8-6). “I was getting exhausted late in the second set, I had to unload five or six shots just to win a single point,” said Fritz, who saved a match point in the third set tiebreak. “I started feeling my knee towards the end but it didn’t get any worse. It was not bad enough to stop me from playing through.” In Sydney, Germany’s world No. 3 Alexander Zverev was also on the end of a shock United Cup result, beaten 6-3, 6 4 by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who had not played since June because of knee surgery. “It’s been a while since I’ve been com peting. Seven months I’ve been going

Verstappen is undoubtedly the star of the show and Perez often hinted his belief that upgrades to their cars were always in favour of the Dutchman. That was the explanation he would usually give when his form nosedived and, indeed, Perez spent much of that final season at Red Bull complaining about his car which he felt had been developed away from his preferences. Reflecting on his split from the team, the Mexican racer told the Crack podcast: “We had the best team. Unfortunately everything fell apart. “We had the team to dominate the sport for the next 10 years, I think. And unfortunately it all ended. “I was in the best team, in a complicated team,

“And well, everyone forgot, right? When I arrived at Red Bull, I started getting results, every thing. Everyone forgot how difficult it was to be in that seat. “And I was very aware of what I was getting into – I was arriving at Red Bull to compete against one of the best.” But when asked what he felt he was doing wrong at his lowest points in Red Bull overalls, Perez claimed the situation was such that he was always causing issues, whether he was quick or not. “Everything, pretty much everything. At Red

TRAMLINES ‘Battle of the Sexes’ pays off for Sabalenka

Coco shocked, Zverev stunned

USA’s Coco Gauff (top) and Germany’s Alexander Zverev (below) in action during their respective singles matches against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz at the United Cup in Perth yesterday. – AFPPIC

through difficult times with the team and it was very challenging,” Hurkacz said. “We went through a long period of time not competing and not knowing when we would be able to be back on court again. “I was just trying to cherish and enjoy every moment here on the court today.” Iga Swiatek closed out the tie for Poland defeating Eva Lys in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 fightback. Earlier the Czech

ARYNA SABALENKA said her much maligned exhibition match against Nick Kyrgios had paid dividends as she demolished Cristina Bucsa yes terday to launch her Australian Open preparations. The world No. 1 took just 48 minutes to dispose of the Spaniard 6-0, 6-1 in the second round of the season-opening Brisbane International. The ease of the win against the world No. 50 will send a warning to the Belarusian’s rivals ahead of the Australian Open starting Jan 18. Sabalenka said the fact that she played so well in her first match of the season showed that the Dec 28 exhibition in Dubai against the mercurial but controver sial Kyrgios was worthwhile. “I mean, when you play against a guy, the intensity is completely different,” she said. “Especially when there is Nick, who is drop-shotting every other shot, so you move a lot, so there was a great fitness for me.” Venus ousted in first round VENUS WILLIAMS was beaten in three sets by Magda Linette yester day at the Auckland Classic as the American great gears up to make history at the Australian Open aged 45. Williams showed glimpses of the talent that has brought her seven major singles titles before running out of steam as the 52nd-ranked Linette won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. “She was really moving well, hitting well, espe cially when running to the open space,” Linette said. “I had to stay calm, be more solid, not make too many mistakes on my side.” Prize money hits new high PLAYERS at next week’s Australian Open will be com peting for a record prize pool with organisers yesterday announcing a 16% increase in the total purse to A$111.5m (RM307m). The winners of the men’s and women’s singles at the first Grand Slam of the year will each take home A$4.15m (RM11.5m), up 19% from last year’s A$3.5 million (RM9.6m). Players beaten in the opening round will get A$150,000 (RM413,000), while even those knocked out in the first round of qualifying receive A$40,500 (RM111,000).

Republic knocked out Norway with a 3-0 win in Sydney. Greece swept to an unassailable 2-0 lead over Britain as Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Billy Harris 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) and Maria Sakkari beat Emma Raducanu for the first time, stopped the 2021 US Open champion 6-3, 3 6, 6-1. – AFP

Kyrgios urges Djokovic to play ‘as long as possible’ NICK KYRGIOS urged Novak Djokovic to stay in ten nis“as long as possible”after the Serbian great yester day pulled out of his only lead-up tournament to the Australian Open, saying he was “not quite physically ready”. “My focus is now on my preparation for the Australian Open and I look forward to arriving in Melbourne soon and seeing all the tennis fans in Australia.”

someone that old in our sport is still at the top of it and still gives everything to it. “The longer we have guys like this around, the better it is for our sport. “I feel like there’s been a void in the sport ever since (Roger) Federer and (Rafael) Nadal left … and obviously when Novak goes, that era is completely gone. I want him to stay for as long as possible.” Djokovic indicated last year that he wanted to stay in the sport until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics so he could defend the gold medal he won in Paris. The Serb has had to settle for a secondary role since Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz took control of the men’s tour. He made the semis at all four majors in 2025 but failed to go further, with his last Grand Slam title coming at the US Open in 2023. – AFP

The world No. 4 has not played a tour match since he defeated Lorenzo Musetti in the Athens final in early November and has become very selective about when and where he plays. Australian showman Kyrgios, who lost 6-3, 6-4 in yesterday’s first round at the Brisbane International to American Aleksandar Kovacevic, urged everyone involved in tennis to appreciate Djokovic while he was still playing. “There’s obviously something there that he wants to achieve, whether it’s another Grand Slam or some thing else,“ he told the Sydney Morning Herald . “But I think we should just cherish the fact that

The 38-year-old was planning to use the Adelaide International from Jan 12 as a springboard to the opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park a week later where he is targeting an 11th title and elusive 25th major crown. “To all my fans in Adelaide, unfortunately I’m not quite physically ready to compete in the Adelaide International next week,” Djokovic said on Instagram . “It’s personally very disappointing to me, as I have such great memories of winning the title there two years ago. I was really excited about returning as it truly felt like playing at home.