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Osaka Hits Practice Court to Prepare for her Tennis Return at Brisbane International

Naomi Osaka of Japan in action during a practice session ahead of the Brisbane International tennis tournament at Queensland Tennis Centre n Brisbane, Wednesday, December 27, 2023. (AAP Image/Darren England)
Naomi Osaka of Japan in action during a practice session ahead of the Brisbane International tennis tournament at Queensland Tennis Centre n Brisbane, Wednesday, December 27, 2023. (AAP Image/Darren England)
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Osaka Hits Practice Court to Prepare for her Tennis Return at Brisbane International

Naomi Osaka of Japan in action during a practice session ahead of the Brisbane International tennis tournament at Queensland Tennis Centre n Brisbane, Wednesday, December 27, 2023. (AAP Image/Darren England)
Naomi Osaka of Japan in action during a practice session ahead of the Brisbane International tennis tournament at Queensland Tennis Centre n Brisbane, Wednesday, December 27, 2023. (AAP Image/Darren England)

Former No. 1 and new mom Naomi Osaka hit the practice court Wednesday ahead of the Brisbane International as she prepared for her much anticipated return to tennis, The Associated Press reported.
Osaka will make her WTA comeback at the tournament which begins Sunday at Pat Rafter Arena. A two-time Australian and US Open champion, Osaka pulled out of last year's Australian Open in Melbourne before later revealing she was pregnant.
The US-based Japanese player and her American rapper boyfriend Cordae became parents to daughter Shai in Los Angeles in July.
Osaka has only played one game since the 2021 US Open in New York. She was leading Daria Gavrilova 1-0 at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September 2021, before the Australian suffered a serious knee injury and had to retire in the match.
“She’s really pumped, excited to be back in Brisbane,” tournament director Cameron Pearson said Wednesday. ”She arrived Christmas morning and was out practicing a few hours later. No Christmas pudding for her, she was straight into it.”
Rafael Nadal is also set to return from injury in Brisbane in a 32-man ATP field so strong that Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem will have to qualify to feature in it.
Nadal held his first practice session Thursday in Brisbane.
Thiem made the Australian Open final in 2020 and Berrettini was a semifinalist two years later. Both are currently sitting outside the top-60 cutoff mark which received automatic entry into the season-opening event.
Holger Rune, at No. 8, is the highest-ranked male in the tournament. American Ben Shelton and three-time Grand Slam singles champion Andy Murray are also entered.
Reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko, Victoria Azarenka, Sofia Kenin and Sloane Stephens are in the 54-player women's draw.

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Arbeloa Vows to ‘Fight for Everything’ as Real Madrid Manager

Real Madrid new coach Alvaro Arbeloa attends a press conference at the club's Valdebebas training ground in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
Real Madrid new coach Alvaro Arbeloa attends a press conference at the club's Valdebebas training ground in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
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Arbeloa Vows to ‘Fight for Everything’ as Real Madrid Manager

Real Madrid new coach Alvaro Arbeloa attends a press conference at the club's Valdebebas training ground in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)
Real Madrid new coach Alvaro Arbeloa attends a press conference at the club's Valdebebas training ground in Madrid, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP)

Real Madrid's new manager Alvaro Arbeloa pledged to fight for everything as he stepped into the role vacated by Xabi Alonso and said he would stay in post as long as he was needed.

Real announced Alonso had left the club by mutual agreement on Monday, following a poor run of form and reports of unrest with some of his senior players.

The 42-year-old Arbeloa stepped up in his place from reserve ‌team Real Madrid ‌Castilla and inherits a side ‌trailing ⁠Barcelona by ‌four points in LaLiga and reeling from a 3-2 defeat in Sunday's Spanish Super Cup final.

"Of course, I am aware of the responsibility and the task ahead of me, and I am very excited," Arbeloa told a press conference on Tuesday. "I've found a group of ⁠players who are really eager... They share my enthusiasm to fight ‌for everything and to win."

Arbeloa, ‍who has been part ‍of Real Madrid's coaching structure since 2020, faces ‍a swift baptism of fire with only one training session before Wednesday's Copa del Rey round of 16 clash against second-division Albacete.

The former right back, who played 238 matches for Real from 2009 to 2016 and won eight trophies, including two Champions League titles, ⁠was relaxed about how long he would serve as coach.

"I've been in this house for 20 years, and I'll stay as long as they want me to," he said.

Arbeloa's immediate goal is to bridge the gap with Barcelona in LaLiga while ensuring progress in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

"The important thing is that the players are happy, enjoy themselves on the pitch, and honor the badge. Wearing this ‌badge is the best thing that can happen to you in life," he added.

Sports

Roma Takes the Dakar Lead in Saudi Arabia as Ford Goes One-Two

Ford Racing's Spanish driver Nani Roma and Spanish co-pilot Alex Haro compete in Stage 8 of the 48th edition of the Dakar Rally 2026, in Saudi Arabia on January 12, 2026. (AFP)
Ford Racing's Spanish driver Nani Roma and Spanish co-pilot Alex Haro compete in Stage 8 of the 48th edition of the Dakar Rally 2026, in Saudi Arabia on January 12, 2026. (AFP)
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Roma Takes the Dakar Lead in Saudi Arabia as Ford Goes One-Two

Ford Racing's Spanish driver Nani Roma and Spanish co-pilot Alex Haro compete in Stage 8 of the 48th edition of the Dakar Rally 2026, in Saudi Arabia on January 12, 2026. (AFP)
Ford Racing's Spanish driver Nani Roma and Spanish co-pilot Alex Haro compete in Stage 8 of the 48th edition of the Dakar Rally 2026, in Saudi Arabia on January 12, 2026. (AFP)

Spaniard Nani Roma led compatriot Carlos Sainz in a Ford one-two at the top of the Dakar Rally car standings on Tuesday after a tough ninth stage in the Saudi Arabian desert for some frontrunners.

Dacia's previous leader and five times winner Nasser Al-Attiyah slipped to third but still only one minute 10 seconds behind Roma, with Toyota's South African Henk Lategan fourth - and with a further five minutes to make up.

"I had three punctures today, but I think everyone had problems," said Roma, who last led the Dakar 12 years ago when he won. "We are positive to be here."

Sainz said it had been hard to find the way at one point, with the cars taking ‌a different route ‌to the bikes and no longer having tracks ‌to ⁠follow.

Lategan described it ‌as a "little bit of a disaster of a day" after getting lost, suffering a puncture, broken windscreen and loss of power steering.

"I was driving with no power steering, extremely difficult in these cars because the wheels are so big so you have to have massive power to even turn the wheels," he said.

"And then we had some more punctures, got lost and we hit that bush in Seb (Loeb)'s dust ⁠that broke the windscreen. So we had to stop and kick the windscreen out because I couldn't ‌see from inside the car, put some goggles ‍on and carry on going."

The 410km ‍stage from Wadi Ad Dawasir to the overnight bivouac, first half of a ‍marathon stage, was won by 21-year-old Polish non-factory Toyota driver Eryk Goczal.

He finished seven minutes ahead of his uncle Michal, also with the Energylandia team, while father Marek was in 31st position.

Australian Toby Price, a double Dakar winner on motorcycles, was third on the stage for Toyota.

Sainz, 63, was handed a one minute 10 second penalty for speeding and finished the stage seventh but ahead ⁠of most of his rivals, including Roma in eighth.

The four times Dakar winner is now 57 seconds behind Roma, who also won on a motorcycle in 2004.

Sweden's Mattias Ekstrom, who had been second overall for Ford, lost a lot of time with a navigation error and dropped to fifth and 11 minutes and 19 seconds off the pace. Dacia's nine times world rally champion Loeb was sixth.

Spaniard Tosha Schareina won the stage in the motorcycle category for Honda, with KTM's Argentine rider Luciano Benavides losing the way and his overall lead to Australia's defending champion Daniel Sanders.

Sanders, also on a KTM, led Honda's American Ricky Brabec by six minutes ‌and 24 seconds.

The race, which ends on Saturday on the Red Sea coast, is the first round of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) season.

Sports

Sinner Seeks Australian Open ‘Three-Peat’ to Maintain Melbourne Supremacy

13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
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Sinner Seeks Australian Open ‘Three-Peat’ to Maintain Melbourne Supremacy

13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)
13 January 2026, Australia, Melbourne: Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. (dpa)

Jannik Sinner returns to the Australian Open targeting a third straight title as the Italian seeks to impose a level of supremacy reminiscent of Novak Djokovic's stranglehold on the year's ​opening Grand Slam.

The 24-year-old will arrive at Melbourne Park under vastly different circumstances from 12 months ago when his successful title defense was partly overshadowed by a doping controversy which saw him serve a three-month ban.

With that storm firmly behind him, Sinner steps onto the blue courts unencumbered and with his focus sharpened after an outstanding 2025 in which he was only seriously challenged by world number ‌one Carlos ‌Alcaraz.

"I feel to be a better player ‌than ⁠last ​year," Sinner ‌said after beating Alcaraz to win the season-ending ATP Finals with his 58th match victory of a curtailed campaign.

"Honestly, amazing season. Many, many wins, and not many losses. All the losses I had, I tried to see the positive things and tried to evolve as a player.

"I felt like this happened in a very good way."

Sinner now sets his sights ⁠on a third straight Melbourne crown - a feat last achieved in the men's game during ‌the second of Djokovic's "three-peats" from 2019 to ‍2021 - and few would bet ‍against him pushing his overall major tally to five.

That pursuit continues ‍to be built on a game as relentless as it is precise, a metronomic rhythm from the baseline powered by near-robotic consistency and heavy groundstrokes that grind opponents into submission.

Although anchored in consistency and control, Sinner has worked ​to add a dash of magic - the kind of spontaneity best embodied by Alcaraz - and his pursuit will add intrigue ⁠to a rivalry that has become the defining duel of men's tennis.

"It's evolved in a positive way, especially the serving," Sinner said at the ATP Finals of his game.

"From the back of the court, it's a bit more unpredictable. I still have margins where I can play better at times.

"It's also difficult because you have to give a lot of credit to your opponent. Carlos is an incredible player. You have to push yourself over the limits."

The "Sincaraz" rivalry has already lit up most of the biggest tennis tournaments but Melbourne remains the missing piece, ‌and all signs point to that changing this year with the Australian Open set for a blockbuster title showdown.