Jannik Sinner Starts His Australian Open Title Defense with a Straight Set Win

Jannik Sinner of Italy reacts after defeating Nicolas Jarry of Chile during their first round match during the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 13 January 2025. (EPA)
Jannik Sinner of Italy reacts after defeating Nicolas Jarry of Chile during their first round match during the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 13 January 2025. (EPA)
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Jannik Sinner Starts His Australian Open Title Defense with a Straight Set Win

Jannik Sinner of Italy reacts after defeating Nicolas Jarry of Chile during their first round match during the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 13 January 2025. (EPA)
Jannik Sinner of Italy reacts after defeating Nicolas Jarry of Chile during their first round match during the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 13 January 2025. (EPA)

After wasting a set point in the second tiebreaker with an ill-conceived drop shot, Jannik Sinner quickly reverted to what's been working for him and finished off a straight-set win over Nicolas Jarry to begin his Australian Open title defense.

The 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory on Rod Laver Arena extended Sinner’s winning streaks to 15 on both the tour and on hard courts in Grand Slams.

After all the pre-tournament attention on the 2024 doping cases of Sinner and long-time women's No. 1 Iga Swiatek, both started the year's first Grand Slam tournament about the same time on nearby courts on Day 2.

"Yeah, I was curious to see how it was," Sinner said of the reception at Rod Laver, where he became a fan favorite last year. "You never know what’s happening. I was happy about the crowd. It was a nice atmosphere."

Top-ranked Sinner had to grind for two long, tiebreak sets against No. 35-ranked Jarry, a 29-year-old from Chile, before finding his touch.

"It was a very close one because the first sets, they can go both ways," Sinner said. "In the third set when I broke it the first time, that gave me a little bit of room to breathe.

"I’m happy how I handled the very tough situation."

Sinner has got a good record at Melbourne Park in that department. He rallied from two sets down in last year's final to beat Daniil Medvedev for his first Grand Slam title, coming off a semifinal upset of 10-time champion Novak Djokovic.

While Sinner was deep into his match against Jarry, Swiatek, a five-time major winner from Poland, fended off top-ranked doubles player Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-4 on John Cain Arena.

Coco Gauff had a little difficulty adjusting to the sun at one end of Rod Laver Arena in Monday's first marquee match and dropped an early service game before quickly settling into a rhythm in a 6-3, 6-3 win over 2020 champion Sofia Kenin.

Third-seeded Gauff beat Swiatek to win the title at the WTA Finals last November and started this season by helping the US to victory at the United Cup last week, against beating No. 2 Swiatek in the final.

Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion is wearing a Marvel-inspired bodysuit and skirt at Melbourne Park and she's radiating confidence and calm.

"I knew going in it was going to be difficult, but you know I’m happy with how I played," she said of the 1-hour, 20-minute win over Kenin, who at No. 81 is a much tougher opponent than her ranking suggests.

"I mean (I) could serve better, but like on that side I was struggling to see the ball," Guaff said, pointing to one baseline on the main show court that was bathed in sun. "So I’m just happy that I was able to manage through that."

Another 20-year-old American, Alex Michelsen, produced the biggest win of his young career with a 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 first-round upset of 2023 Australian runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Michelsen's three booming service returns in the ninth game of the fourth set helped him earn a vital break against the 11th-seeded Tsitsipas and, after shaking off jitters on his own serve, he closed out for his first victory over a player ranked in the top 20 at a Grand Slam. No. 17 Frances Tiafoe advanced in five sets over Arthur Rinderknech of France.

Gauff went into her opening round on a streak of winning 33 matches against players ranked outside the Top 50, dating to a loss to Kenin at Wimbledon 2023.

The draw presented another tough trip to Australia for Kenin. It was the third straight year Kenin faced a Grand Slam champion in the first round in Australia, and her fourth consecutive first-round exit here.

Gauff will next play Jodie Burrage of Britain. No. 7 Jessica Pegula also advanced along with No. 12 Diana Shnaider, No. 28 Elina Svitolina, and Belinda Bencic, who ousted No. 16 Jelena Ostapenko. Lucia Bronzetti of Italy advanced over No. 21 Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion.



Real Madrid Trusting New Improvised Defense to Hold on to La Liga Lead

Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
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Real Madrid Trusting New Improvised Defense to Hold on to La Liga Lead

Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)

Real Madrid will have to stick to its improvised back line when it tries to hold on to its narrow lead in La Liga this weekend.

Madrid visits Osasuna on Saturday with a one-point lead over Atletico Madrid and a two-point advantage over Barcelona.

Depleted of defenders, coach Carlo Ancelotti fielded a back line that played together for the first time on Tuesday and won at Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.

Ferland Mendy, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Raúl Asencio and Federico Valverde are expected to start in defense again this weekend.

Ancelotti doesn't have much choice. Injuries have robbed him of central defenders Éder Militão, Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba and right backs Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez.

But the coach was pleasantly surprised by how well this new back line held up at Man City.

Tchouaméni is a midfielder plugged into the central defense and Valverde is also out of position at right back. Like Tchouaméni, Asencio is a B team player, who turned 22 on Thursday.

“The back four had never played together, not even in training,” Ancelotti said this week.

“They were absolutely fantastic. Tchouaméni has come in for a lot of criticism but he was incredible. Asencio’s maturity continues to surprise people and Valverde and Mendy were fantastic. We’ve been able to bring something really positive out of an emergency situation.”

Ancelotti said the whole team has put in the extra effort to help defensively and keep the squad well balanced.

“I always say that defending is about the attitude of the whole team," Ancelotti said. "We defended well as a unit (against City). The team delivered a well-rehearsed defensive display.”

The injuries have prevented Ancelotti from rotating the squad and resting players ahead of the decisive Champions League second leg at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium next week.

“We need Rüdiger and Alaba for the return leg and I think they’ll be available,” Ancelotti said.

Tight at the top In La Liga, Madrid is coming off a 1-1 draw at home against Atletico. Barcelona took advantage of that result to close the gap on the Madrid rivals.

The Catalan club, unbeaten this year with nine wins and two draws, will host sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

Atletico handed Barcelona its last loss in December, and will host mid-table Celta Vigo on Saturday. Diego Simeone's team has only one defeat — 1-0 at Leganes in January — in its last 22 games across all tournaments.

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao visits Espanyol, and fifth-placed Villarreal hosts Valencia. Sevilla is at last-placed Valladolid and Real Betis hosts Real Sociedad.