Defending Champion Sabalenka Reaches 4th Round at Australian Open 

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus signs autographs for fans after the Women's 3rd round match against Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2024. (EPA)
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus signs autographs for fans after the Women's 3rd round match against Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2024. (EPA)
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Defending Champion Sabalenka Reaches 4th Round at Australian Open 

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus signs autographs for fans after the Women's 3rd round match against Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2024. (EPA)
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus signs autographs for fans after the Women's 3rd round match against Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2024. (EPA)

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and US Open winner Coco Gauff swept to commanding wins at the Australian Open on Friday to reach the fourth round.

Second-seeded Sabalenka beat Lesia Tsurenko 6-0, 6-0 in 52 minutes while No. 4-seeded Gauff dropped just two games in beating fellow American Alycia Parks 6-0, 6-2.

Sabalenka, who won her first Grand Slam title here 12 months ago, has dropped just six games in three rounds.

“Last year, Iga (Swiatek) won so many sets 6-0 and this is one of the goals, to try to get closer to her,” Sabalenka joked. “I’m just super-happy with the level I’m playing so far. Hopefully I can just keep going like that or even better.”

The pair did not shake hands — as is the convention for Ukrainian players against opponents from Russia or Belarus, where Sabalenka is from — but Tsurenko congratulated Sabalenka verbally.

Sabalenka will play Amanda Anisimova, who continued her comeback with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Paula Badosa. Anisimova, who took seven months out of the game last year for mental health reasons, hit 40 winners on her way to the fourth round.

“It’s quite unbelievable,” the American said. “For sure taking a step away from the game ... gave me a new perspective. I’m trying to be in the present. I think in the past I was getting too caught up in the past and the future.”

Sabalenka said she expects a tough match against Anisimova, who has won four of their five matches.

“She’s an incredible player and I’m really happy to see her back,” Sabalenka said.

Gauff played an almost flawless match as she beat Parks in 61 minutes, making just eight unforced errors to the 34 of her less experienced opponent.

Sixteen-year-old Mirra Andreeva continued her remarkable Australian Open debut when she came from 5-1 down in the final set to beat Diane Parry of France 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5).

The Russian player was in tears when she was one game from defeat, but she produced a brilliant comeback, saving a match point at 2-5 before winning the deciding tiebreak 10-5.

No. 4 Jannik Sinner moved into the fourth round without losing a set, thanks to a 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Sebastian Baez. The Italian won 18 of 25 points at the net as he set up a fourth-round match with 15th-seeded Karen Khachanov, who beat Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5).

“I loved the conditions today because there was no wind and no sun,” Sinner said. “I felt great on the ball. I made the right decisions, and I used every chance I had.”

No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas was equally impressive, beating Luca Van Assche 6-3, 6-0, 6-4. He’ll meet No. 12 Taylor Fritz, who defeated Fabian Morozsan 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Ten-time Australian champion Novak Djokovic is in night action for the third match in a row, taking on Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Local hope Alex de Minaur played Flavio Cobolli of Italy.



Man City Facing a Rebuild after Punishing Season as Some Guardiola Stalwarts May Be on the Way out

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks off the pitch after the Champions League playoff second leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks off the pitch after the Champions League playoff second leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP)
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Man City Facing a Rebuild after Punishing Season as Some Guardiola Stalwarts May Be on the Way out

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks off the pitch after the Champions League playoff second leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks off the pitch after the Champions League playoff second leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP)

A big rebuild is coming at Manchester City — and top of the list in the clear-out appears to be the injury-prone stalwarts who cannot hack modern-day football's demanding schedule.

Pep Guardiola was very open Friday about the new "reality" facing City after his most challenging season at a club that has set new standards in the Premier League but is now staring at the end of a dynasty.

A record-extending fifth straight Premier League title is realistically out of reach. The dream of winning another Champions League is over after a two-legged humbling by Real Madrid before even the last 16.

Big changes, it seems, are now necessary.

"It's so demanding," the City manager said. "Teams are quicker, faster and stronger, and we cannot handle it right now."

Most despairing for Guardiola are the injury issues that have rocked his squad all season. Rodri, City's midfield anchor and most important player, damaged his ACL in September and is out for the season. City's four center backs — Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake — have each had long periods out. Kevin De Bruyne looks to be past his best after big injuries and didn't even come off the bench in the one-sided 3-1 loss at Madrid on Wednesday that shone a huge light on City's regression this season.

Guardiola didn't name names when he spoke about certain players not being robust enough to handle an increasingly packed schedule of games every three or four days. But players like Stones, De Bruyne, Ake and even Jack Grealish look to be at risk, along with those in their 30s — like Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic — who have struggled with the physicality of matches this season.

"We have to sit down with the doctors, physios, the players, their agents and be clear that some of them cannot sustain every three days," Guardiola said. "Every month or two months playing every three or four days — this is the reality.

"It's one more year and then a World Cup. And we have already a lot of players who cannot sustain what we have done in the past, every week, playing in different competitions, traveling, without any problems. You (ask) me where am I concerned and it's just that. The quality is there. But there's a lot of quality we cannot use because of the injuries."

'More than 50 games is too much'

With games being added to the schedule, Guardiola knows it's going to get worse. City's campaign this season contains the newly expanded Club World Cup which runs from mid-June to mid-July.

"For many, many years, we have been talking about it. ... More than 50 games is too much for the players, it's too much for the human beings, the body cannot sustain it. We arrive at 65, 70 games and in the end, look what happens. It's not just Man City, it's all the clubs. Madrid had a lot of problems with injuries, too. In the future, it will be getting worse and worse and that's why I say I'm concerned."

The injuries keep coming for Guardiola, too. Stones, who was hurt early against Madrid on Wednesday, might require surgery on an injured quadricep and be out for around two-to-three months — a similar length of time Akanji will miss after a leg injury sustained in the first leg against Madrid.

Erling Haaland missed the second leg in Madrid because of a knee injury and is a doubt for the Premier League game against Liverpool on Sunday.

As for De Bruyne, who has been an unused substitute in the last two games, Guardiola only said it was down to his "decisions" — though he did suggest the midfielder's current physical limitations played a part.

"Never, ever is it personal, never ever am I upset," Guardiola said of De Bruyne. "But for the demands, for the way we need to play for the absence of strength and physicality we have, we need games with more control, not (going) up and down."

The rebuild has started City has already begun its refresh, spending more than $200 million during the recent winter transfer window on five players — midfielder Nico Gonzalez, defenders Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Christian McFarlane, and Egypt forward Omar Marmoush.

That might just be the start of it.