Thiago Silva to Return to Brazilian Club Fluminense after Leaving Chelsea at End of the Season

Football - Premier League - Chelsea v West Ham United - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - May 5, 2024 Chelsea's Thiago Silva after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Chelsea v West Ham United - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - May 5, 2024 Chelsea's Thiago Silva after the match. (Reuters)
TT

Thiago Silva to Return to Brazilian Club Fluminense after Leaving Chelsea at End of the Season

Football - Premier League - Chelsea v West Ham United - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - May 5, 2024 Chelsea's Thiago Silva after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Chelsea v West Ham United - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - May 5, 2024 Chelsea's Thiago Silva after the match. (Reuters)

Veteran defender Thiago Silva will return to Brazilian club Fluminense after leaving Chelsea at the end of the season.

The 39-year-old Silva said last week he was not extending his contract with Chelsea and Fluminense announced Tuesday that the center back is joining on a free transfer.

The defending Copa Libertadores champion posted a picture of Silva wearing a Fluminense shirt on social media with the text: “The monster is back.”

Silva played for Fluminense between 2006 and 2008. He left for AC Milan in 2009, and three years later joined Paris Saint-German. The Brazilian joined Chelsea in 2020 and won the Champions League the following year.

The defender was in Brazil’s squad for the last four World Cups. He also won the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2019 Copa América with the national team.

Silva is expected to join Fluminense once Brazil’s transfer window reopens in July.



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
TT

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.