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King Salman Patronizes King's Cup Final

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz awards the trophy to al-Ittihad players after they are crowned Cup champions. (SPA)
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz awards the trophy to al-Ittihad players after they are crowned Cup champions. (SPA)
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King Salman Patronizes King's Cup Final

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz awards the trophy to al-Ittihad players after they are crowned Cup champions. (SPA)
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz awards the trophy to al-Ittihad players after they are crowned Cup champions. (SPA)

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz patronized on Saturday the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup final contested between al-Faisaly and al-Ittihad football clubs.

Hosted by the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Sports Stadium in Jeddah, the final saw al-Ittihad crowned champions after defeating their rivals 3-1 in extra time.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques had arrived at the stadium with a number of officials.

After being greeted by a group of children, King Salman was received by Adviser to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Prince Khalid al-Faisal and Chairman of the General Sports Authority Turki Al al-Sheikh.

He then viewed a photo exhibition, which included photographs from the rule of King Abdulaziz until his current reign.

Upon arrival at the main podium, the King was welcomed by the sports fans.

The closing ceremony for the tournament saw an artistic show and a performance by singer Mohammed Abdo.

After the match, Chairman of the General Sports Authority Turki bin Abdulmohsen Al al-Sheikh held a press conference about the game in which he expressed appreciation to King Salman for patronizing the cup final.

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Sinner, Djokovic in Opposite Halves at Australian Open, Sabalenka vs Stephens in 1st Round

09 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner pose with Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the draw for the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
09 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner pose with Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the draw for the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
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Sinner, Djokovic in Opposite Halves at Australian Open, Sabalenka vs Stephens in 1st Round

09 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner pose with Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the draw for the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa
09 January 2025, Australia, Melbourne: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka (L) and Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner pose with Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the draw for the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa

Defending champion Jannik Sinner and 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic have landed in opposite sides of the draw for the season’s first major, ruling out a replay of last year’s semifinal match.
Sinner upset Djokovic in the semifinals at the Australian Open last year before coming back to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 for his first Grand Slam singles title.
Top-ranked Sinner has a first-round match against Nicolas Jarry and also has Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Medvedev in his quarter of the draw. Fritz will open against fellow American Jenson Brooksby.
Djokovic and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz could meet in the quarterfinals, with a possible semifinal against No. 2 Alexander Zverev.
At the draw Thursday to set the brackets for the singles fields, defending champions Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka walked into the official ceremony holding thei trophies.
Sabalenka won her second consecutive title at Melbourne Park in 2024 by defeating Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the final. Sabalenka will be attempting to win a third consecutive women’s singles title at Melbourne Park, something last accomplished by Martina Hingis from 1997 to 1999.
Sabalenka drew a tough opening match against 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and has 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva and Zheng in her section.
“I have a lot of great memories and to be back here ... as a two-time Australian Open champion, it’s definitely something special,” Sabalenka, who won the Brisbane International title last week, said at the draw ceremony. “I hope that I can keep doing what I’m doing here in Australia.”
Third-seeded Coco Gauff is a potential semifinal rival for Sabalenka. Gauff has a challenging first-round match against former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and is in the same section of the draw as seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula.
The Australian Open starts Sunday morning in Melbourne (Saturday night EST) and will run for 15 days.
Djokovic will be playing in his first event alongside new coach Andy Murray, his former on-court rival and a three-time major champion. Nobody has won the men's title at Melbourne Park more often than Djokovic, although he said he still feels trauma from the one year he wasn’t allowed to play.
Nick Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up who withdrew from an exhibition against Djokovic this week because of an abdominal strain, will face Jacob Fearnley in the first round if the mercurial Australian is fit enough to contest his first major since the 2022 US Open. Kyrgios is in the same section as Zverev.