Defending Champ Sinner Gets Back to 4th Round at Australian Open

Jannik Sinner (L) of Italy celebrates winning his Men's Singles round 3 match against Marcos Giron (R) of USA at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2025. EPA/JOEL CARRETT
Jannik Sinner (L) of Italy celebrates winning his Men's Singles round 3 match against Marcos Giron (R) of USA at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2025. EPA/JOEL CARRETT
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Defending Champ Sinner Gets Back to 4th Round at Australian Open

Jannik Sinner (L) of Italy celebrates winning his Men's Singles round 3 match against Marcos Giron (R) of USA at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2025. EPA/JOEL CARRETT
Jannik Sinner (L) of Italy celebrates winning his Men's Singles round 3 match against Marcos Giron (R) of USA at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2025. EPA/JOEL CARRETT

Defending champion Jannik Sinner beat 46th-ranked Marcos Giron of the US 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Saturday night, reaching the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the fourth time.
Sinner stretched his unbeaten run to 17 matches, dating to last season. He had an eventful 2024, claiming his first two Grand Slam titles, reaching No. 1 in the ATP rankings for the first time — and going through a doping case that is still not quite resolved, because the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed his exoneration.
The 23-year-old Italian's next opponent in Australia will be either No. 13 Holger Rune or Miomir Kecmanovic, The Associated Press reported.
After eliminating Giron, who was trying to get to the fourth round of a major for the first time, Sinner was critical of himself, pointing specifically to his 16-of-24 success rate on points when he moved forward.
“The percentage of my net game was not really good,” Sinner said with a chuckle.
“For sure, if I want to go on in this tournament, I have to improve,” he added. “So hopefully in the next round, I'm able to raise my level.”



Nunez Late Double Rescues Win for Liverpool in Premier League

Liverpool's Darwin Nunez greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC, in London, Britain, 18 January 2025.  EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
Liverpool's Darwin Nunez greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC, in London, Britain, 18 January 2025. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
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Nunez Late Double Rescues Win for Liverpool in Premier League

Liverpool's Darwin Nunez greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC, in London, Britain, 18 January 2025.  EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
Liverpool's Darwin Nunez greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC, in London, Britain, 18 January 2025. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY

Darwin Nunez scored twice in stoppage time as Liverpool beat Brentford 2-0 to strengthen its spot in first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Second-placed Arsenal will look to restore the four-point gap to Liverpool by defeating Aston Villa later.
Nunez was derided by Brentford's fans after going on as a substitute in the 65th minute, but the Uruguay striker responded by turning home a cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the first minute of added-on time, The Associated Press reported.
Nunez then finished off a counterattack two minutes later and secured a first victory in three league games for Liverpool, which drew with Manchester United and Nottingham Forest either side of a loss to Tottenham in the first leg of the English League Cup semifinals.
Liverpool has still lost only one league game all season, at home to Forest in September. The Reds had 37 shots against Brentford and scored with their final two.
Kluivert's second hat trick Justin Kluivert scored his second hat trick of the season in the league to inspire Bournemouth to 4-1 at Newcastle, whose nine-match winning run in all competitions came to an end emphatically.
The Dutch midfielder netted in the sixth, 44th and second-half stoppage time at St. James' Park. Milos Kerkez added the fourth goal in the sixth minute of added-on time.
Bruno Guimaraes equalized for fourth-placed Newcastle.
Kluivert, whose father is former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert, also scored three goals against Wolverhampton in November. In that match, all of Kluivert's goals were penalties, but he scored from open play each time against Newcastle.
Six of Newcastle's nine straight victories came in the league, helping to lift the Saudi-controlled team into the top four in its bid to return to the Champions League.
Newcastle striker Alexander Isak failed to score, having previously netted in eight league games in a row. That left him three games short of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy's record for the longest scoring run in Premier League history.
Bournemouth dominated Newcastle despite being hampered by a long list of injuries. The south coast team extended its unbeaten run to 11 games and climbed to sixth place, tied for points with fifth-placed Chelsea. A fifth-place finish could earn a place in the Champions League next season for the first time.
“Why not dream big?” Kluivert posed. “We never know where we can end up.”
Van Nistelrooy under pressure Next-to-last Leicester lost a seventh straight game in the league, 2-0 to Fulham, to pile the pressure on recently hired manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Van Nistelrooy has won only one of his nine league games in charge — the first against West Ham on Dec. 3.
Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore scored for Fulham.
Crystal Palace won at West Ham 2-0 thanks to two second-half goals by Jean-Philippe Mateta, the second from the penalty spot.