16/01/2026

SPORTS FRIDAY | JAN 16, 2026

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Keys embraces title defence scrutiny

MADISON KEYS said she was preparing to handle the added scrutiny of returning to the Australian Open as defending champion, while fellow American Coco Gauff appears poised to make a deep run when the season’s first Grand Slam begins on Sunday. Keys sealed her long-awaited major breakthrough under the lights at Melbourne Park last year, beating Aryna Sabalenka in a gripping final to deny the world No. 1 a third straight Australian Open crown. Keys now says her priority is ensuring she is mentally ready when she steps on court. “I think the biggest thing is getting to the

used some slow cutters, and then occasionally would pop one,” Eubanks said. “It kept Iga off balance.” Veteran ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe said that Gauff’s challenge is striking the right balance between aggression and margin, particularly on serve. “She can serve big, but that can get her into trouble,” he said. “Sometimes I’d like her to be a little more conservative.” – Reuters

How healthy is she?” World No. 3 Gauff, despite continued questions about her serve, has the tools – and the competitive edge – to contend in Melbourne, Eubanks said. He pointed to her recent results and what he described as tactical clarity in her win over world No. 2 Iga Swiatek at the United Cup last weekend, calling it a potential blueprint for the Australian Open. “She made a high percentage of first serves,

point where it’s not about not feeling the pressure, but knowing how to navigate through it,” Keys told The National at the season-ending championships in Riyadh. Keys’ fitness could also be a key variable, former player and ESPN commentator Chris Eubanks said during a media call this week. “One of the big things for Maddie is going to be health,” Eubanks said, noting Keys had referenced a groin issue early in the season. “So that’s going to be the big thing I look for.

Sinner, Djokovic on semi collision Italian world No. 1 to meet Gaston in AO first round, Sabalenka to play French wildcard

D EFENDING CHAMPION Jannik Sinner will meet French world No. 94 Hugo Gaston in the first round of the Australian Open in his bid for a third straight title at Melbourne Park, while women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka takes on French wild card Tiantsoa Rakotomanga. Men’s top seed Carlos Alcaraz will play 79th ranked Australian Adam Walton in the Spaniard’s quest for a first Australian Open crown to become the youngest man to com plete the career Grand Slam. At the draw ceremony at Melbourne Park yesterday, 10-time champion Novak Djokovic, the fourth seed, was bracketed next to 71st ranked Spaniard Pedro Martinez for

Alcaraz has home hero Alex de Minaur in his quarter of the draw but the Australian sixth seed must pass a tricky first test against Italian Matteo Berrettini, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2021.

Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka during practice before the first round of 2026 Australian Open. – AFPPIC

Twice champion Aryna Sabalenka has few threats in her quarter of the draw before a potential semifinal against third seed Coco Gauff, who opens against 55th ranked Uzbek Kamilla Rakhimova. Women’s second seed Iga Swiatek will meet a qualifier in

Italy’s Jannik Sinner. – AFPPIC

the first round but her path to a first Australian Open title and s e v e n t h Grand Slam

crown overall could mean a crunch quarterfi nal against the resur gent Kazakh Elena Rybakina. Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, the fifth seed, looms as a dangerous proposition after clinching her maiden WTA Finals trophy in November in a major return to form. Rybakina meets unseeded Slovene Kaja Juvan in the first round. Defending champion Madison

the open ing round of the Grand Slam starting

on Sunday. Serb Djokovic, who is gunning for an all-time record 25th Grand Slam title to break clear of a tie with Margaret Court, could face rising Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the fifth seed, in the quarterfinals before a possible semifinal against Sinner. Italian Sinner has a smooth first week but fans will hope it includes a third round match-up with 28th-seeded Brazilian Joao Fonseca should the exciting, 19-year-old talent prove fit following recent back problems. “The draw is very difficult, it doesn’t matter who you play,” said Sinner at the draw cere mony. “We are the best players in the world and the way is very, very long.”

Keys will face unseeded Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova but the American ninth seed has a tough road to the title. Keys could meet sixth-seeded compatriot Jessica Pegula in the fourth round before a potential quarterfinal against another American in fourth seed Amanda Anisimova. – Reuters

SHORTS

champion to be in qualies, which was interesting, I was like, ‘Oh God, a lot of pressure’, but I was just like it’s an oppor tunity to go and play and try and figure it out.” Amateur strikes gold AN amateur tennis player from Sydney, Jordan Smith, struck gold on Wednesday as he walked away with a cheque worth A$1 million (RM2.7m) after holding his nerve to win the “One Point Slam” ahead of the Australian Open. The showdown pitted amateur play ers and celebrities against an elite field of 24 professionals, which included the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek. Smith, who qualified as the New South Wales state champion, got the better of two-times Australian Open winner Sinner and women’s world No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, before beating Joanna Garland in the final. “I don’t know anymore. Coming into tonight, I was just happy to win one

point. I was so nervous, but I enjoyed being out here. It was a great experi ence,” said Smith, who added he planned to buy a house with his win nings. The event, part of the expanded opening week of the major, featured an elimination draw with “rock, paper, scis sors” used to determine who will serve or receive, and the winner of the point going through to the next round. Amateurs were allowed two serves, but ATP or WTA-ranked players could only have one go. LIV Golf signs Detry, re-signs Johnson LIV GOLF has signed Thomas Detry, who last year became the first Belgian to win on the PGA Tour, to its roster while former world No. 1 Dustin Johnson has re-signed with the league, the Saudi funded circuit said yesterday. World No. 58 Detry, who picked up his lone PGA Tour victory at last February’s Phoenix Open, is joining the 4Aces team captained by two-time

through the city of Borgomanero, about 70km northwest of Milan. Some 10,001 torchbearers have been mobilised to carry the flame, wear ing white uniforms with a red-and-yel low pattern recalling the Olympic flame but former cross-country skiing cham pion Silvio Fauner is complaining that he and other Olympic medal winners have been sidelined. “There’s no respect for us champi ons. I consider it an incredible insult,” Fauner said in an interview on Tuesday with sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport . “I represent 10 athletes who have won 35 Olympic medals, starting with the two gold relay teams of 1994 and 2006… We were not involved in the slightest in any Winter Olympics initia tive in our country. Neither torchbear ers, nor ambassadors, nor any role. Nothing,” he said. Olympics organisers said in a state ment Fauner (deputy mayor of Sappada, a ski resort in the Dolomites) had been excluded from torchbearing duties because political office holders are disqualified.

major champion Johnson, who signed a multi-year extension with LIV. Detry is arguably the biggest LIV signing since Spaniard Jon Rahm and Englishman Tyrrell Hatton joined the league ahead of the 2024 season. “There’s an amazing vibe around the 4Aces that you feel right away,” said Detry. “You can see they play with confi dence and there’s a definite swagger coming from all the guys … feeling like you belong on the biggest stages. That’s exactly the type of environment I want to be a part of.” Allegri carries torch MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI, the coach of Italian AC Milan, joined the ranks of Winter Olympics torchbearers yester day, amid a row over the exclusion of former athletes that has prompted gov ernment intervention. The torch is journeying through Italy’s 110 provinces ahead of the start of the Milano-Cortina games, scheduled for Feb 6-22. Allegri walked with other volunteers

Stephens comes through Australian Open qualifying FORMER Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens battled through qualifying for the Australian Open yesterday to make her first major tournament in a year. The American eased past Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 7-5 to book her place in the main draw as she returns from a foot injury that kept her off tour for most of last year. Stephens, the 2017 US Open cham pion and French Open finalist a year later, lost to top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in Melbourne in 2025 before being sidelined by injury. The 32-year-old played no competi tive tennis between February and September. “Obviously the last round of qualies is not easy and I haven’t been there in a long time, so a little bit stressful but really happy to get the win and get through,” Stephens said. “I think I was the only Grand Slam