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Maestro Djokovic Mows Down Qualifier Maestrelli in Melbourne

Novak Djokovic (AFP)
Novak Djokovic (AFP)
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Maestro Djokovic Mows Down Qualifier Maestrelli in Melbourne

Novak Djokovic (AFP)
Novak Djokovic (AFP)

Novak Djokovic systematically dismantled Italian qualifier Francesco Maestrelli 6-3 6-2 6-2 on Thursday to reach the third round of the Australian Open in his quest to make more history on Rod Laver Arena.

Fourth seed Djokovic maintained a steady grip on the second-round clash without needing to shift into top gear as he seeks a record-extending 11th Melbourne Park title and 25th Grand Slam trophy overall to break a deadlock with Margaret Court, Reuters said.

"I didn't know much about him (Maestrelli) until a few days ago, it happens more often than not these days," Djokovic said of his 23-year-old opponent.

"But the respect is always there and ‌I didn't underestimate ‌him. He's got a big serve and a big ‌game, ⁠only lacking a ‌bit of experience. He's got the game to go far and high in the world rankings and I wish him that."

The 38-year-old raced through the opening set on the back of a break in the second game and pounced again in the opening game of the next set to heap pressure on world number 141 Maestrelli, who struggled to capitalize on his few openings.

Djokovic brought up set point with an acrobatic backhand and secured the set ⁠with an unreturned shot from the same flank to close in on his 399th Grand Slam match victory, and ‌his 101st in Melbourne, leaving him one shy of ‍record-holder Roger Federer.

Maestrelli had a rare moment ‍of joy in the third set as he recovered a break after conceding two, ‍but Djokovic raised his level to close out the victory and book a meeting with Botic van de Zandschulp in the next round.

Djokovic is playing in his first event of the season, having skipped the Adelaide tune-up, a decision that followed his move to end his 2025 season after winning his 101st title in Athens in November.

The world number four said the off-season was spent working on making his game more potent.

"I ⁠always try to work with purpose. I had a longer off-season, like the off-season before this one. When I have more time, then I obviously try to look at my game and different elements that I can really improve," he told reporters.

"Otherwise, what's the point? What's the point of competing and coming out and not really trying to be better than you were the season before? That's the mentality I try to nurture. It's been allowing me to play at the highest level at this age.

"I'm glad it's paying off, the work I've done in the off-season. It's the beginning of the tournament. I haven't played any lead-up tournament.

"I'm happy I'm able to play this way, considering the lack of ‌competitive matches for more than two months. It's all been positive so far, positive signs. I've got to keep it up."

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Sports

No Mbappe, No Chance? Real Madrid on Ropes Against Man City

Real Madrid's Spanish coach Alvaro Arbeloa looks on during the Spanish league football match between Celta Vigo and Real Madrid CF at the Balaidos Stadium in Vigo on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
Real Madrid's Spanish coach Alvaro Arbeloa looks on during the Spanish league football match between Celta Vigo and Real Madrid CF at the Balaidos Stadium in Vigo on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
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No Mbappe, No Chance? Real Madrid on Ropes Against Man City

Real Madrid's Spanish coach Alvaro Arbeloa looks on during the Spanish league football match between Celta Vigo and Real Madrid CF at the Balaidos Stadium in Vigo on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
Real Madrid's Spanish coach Alvaro Arbeloa looks on during the Spanish league football match between Celta Vigo and Real Madrid CF at the Balaidos Stadium in Vigo on March 6, 2026. (AFP)

Rarely do record 15-time winners Real Madrid enter a Champions League clash as underdogs, but this is the situation when Manchester City visit the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

With key attackers Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo Goes set to miss the game injured and Alvaro Arbeloa's team in inconsistent form, the Premier League side are firm favorites in the last 16 tie.

Man City beat Madrid in the league phase in the Spanish capital and have strengthened since then, with Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi arriving, while midfielder Rodri is fit after missing that match during a long-term injury absence.

Xabi Alonso was at Madrid's helm then. But his successor Arbeloa has not got the team playing with more quality or consistency.

Perhaps his biggest success has been helping winger Vinicius Junior back to form, and the Brazilian represents Real Madrid's best hope of success against City.

The winger was key in Madrid's triumph over Jose Mourinho's Benfica in the play-off round, despite allegedly being racially abused in the first leg by Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni, who denies it.

Vinicius said he had felt "a little tired" after beating Celta Vigo in La Liga on Friday, with the team leaning on him over the past few matches. By contrast Man City coach Pep Guardiola rested Manchester City striker Erling Haaland for his team's FA Cup win over Newcastle at the weekend.

In the past Madrid have shown grit to get through Champions League ties when they have been outplayed and they will likely need to find that resolve again.

They needed a deflected 95th-minute goal from Fede Valverde to scrape their 2-1 win over Celta.

Arbeloa was asked what his team's approach was, as it was not particularly clear from their flat performance.

"To win the game, which is what Real Madrid plays for," responded the coach. "That's what we want and the objective we had today."

The same will be true on Wednesday, by any means necessary.

Arbeloa called on Madrid's supporters, who have been critical of their own players at times this season, to inspire the team against City.

"We need them, we need them on Wednesday, and they know it better than anyone," said Arbeloa.

"It's a Champions League night against a very tough opponent, one of the biggest clubs in the world of football right now.

"Playing at home, we know we're much stronger when the Madrid fans are on our side."

- Injury plague -

There has been some speculation that Madrid's top scorer Mbappe, who hit a hat-trick last season against City in the play-off round, could make a surprise return on Wednesday.

However, Spanish newspaper AS reports both he and Bellingham are targeting a potential return in the second leg.

Madrid have problems elsewhere with defenders Eder Militao and Alvaro Carreras and midfielder Dani Ceballos sidelined, and David Alaba also doubtful.

Guardiola may look to exploit Trent Alexander-Arnold's defensive frailty now the England international has begun to start more regularly. Celta got in behind the former Liverpool right-back to open the scoring last week.

Another positive for Arbeloa, of which there have been few since his arrival in January, has been the solid displays of Aurelien Tchouameni and Valverde.

They can offer the steel which Madrid need to withstand the might of Haaland and company.

In the 15 encounters between the two teams, they have each won five and also drawn five. Including the two upcoming matches, the fixture becomes the third most-played in the history of the competition.

This may well be the least confident Madrid have been in approaching any of the previous knock-out ties, even if they would never admit it.

"Real Madrid is about fighting until the end, believing, battling," said Arbeloa after beating Celta.

"Yes, we could do a lot of things better but with the personality and character we showed, I hope this can be a turning point and from here, everything goes much better."

Sports

Rosenior Back in France as Chelsea Face PSG Champions League Challenge

Football - FA Cup - Fifth Round - Wrexham v Chelsea - SToK Racecourse, Wrexham, Britain - March 7, 2026 Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior before the match. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Fifth Round - Wrexham v Chelsea - SToK Racecourse, Wrexham, Britain - March 7, 2026 Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior before the match. (Reuters)
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Rosenior Back in France as Chelsea Face PSG Champions League Challenge

Football - FA Cup - Fifth Round - Wrexham v Chelsea - SToK Racecourse, Wrexham, Britain - March 7, 2026 Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior before the match. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Fifth Round - Wrexham v Chelsea - SToK Racecourse, Wrexham, Britain - March 7, 2026 Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior before the match. (Reuters)

The renewal of Chelsea's rivalry with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League this week sees Liam Rosenior make a quick return to France, just two months after he left Strasbourg for Stamford Bridge.

Rosenior, 41, was appointed by Chelsea in early January on a six-year deal on the back of a solid body of work over 18 months at Strasbourg, as well as the close links between the two clubs run by the BlueCo consortium.

It is hard to imagine the former Fulham, Hull City and Brighton right-back would have been hired by one of the biggest sides in the Premier League without that controversial relationship, but Rosenior still made a major impression in Alsace.

He led Strasbourg to European qualification last season and laid foundations that have been built on by his successor Gary O'Neil, who has taken the team to the French Cup semi-finals while they are one of the leading contenders to win the Conference League.

Rosenior got a young side -- in which almost the entire squad is aged 23 or under -- playing a sophisticated brand of football, with high pressing, man-to-man marking and players very comfortable in possession.

Strasbourg were one of just two teams to beat PSG in Ligue 1 last season, with a 2-1 victory in May that admittedly came after Luis Enrique's side had been confirmed as champions.

And Rosenior's last visit to the Parc des Princes in October ended in Strasbourg claiming a 3-3 draw -- they had been 3-1 up at one point.

"We were playing against the best team in the world, full stop. I think they are a credit to this league," was how the Wandsworth-born coach described PSG.

This fixture became a genuine rivalry for a time in the last decade, when the clubs met in the Champions League knockout phase in three straight seasons, from 2014 to 2016.

The first was a quarter-final won by Chelsea, but PSG triumphed in the last 16 in the two years that followed.

The most recent encounter was in the Club World Cup final last July, when Chelsea won 3-0 against a tired PSG in sapping conditions at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Now they meet in the last 16 once again.

"These are the games you live for, games that you come into football for," Rosenior said after the draw was made late last month.

- Holders on verge of crisis? -

Rosenior has so far lost three games out of 15 in charge of Chelsea, all of them against Arsenal.

A 4-1 win at Aston Villa last Wednesday left the Blues fifth in the Premier League, and Saturday's extra-time victory at Wrexham took them through to the FA Cup quarter-finals.

A much-changed team for that game is likely to have little in common with the side that takes to the field in Paris, as Chelsea look to oust the reigning European champions.

PSG currently look more vulnerable than they have in a long time, with their performance in a 3-1 home defeat by Monaco on Friday being heavily criticized.

"The champions have stopped responding", was the headline in sports daily L'Equipe, which described Luis Enrique's team as being "on the verge of a crisis".

That might sound like an exaggeration, but Rosenior's description does not really hold right now with PSG having been beaten four times already in 2026.

Their lead over Lens at the top of Ligue 1 is just one point, and in Europe they appear a level below the likes of Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

Fitness has been an issue all season, off the back of a marathon last campaign, with Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele making his latest comeback at the weekend after a lay-off with a calf injury.

Key midfielders Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves have been absent, while Gianluigi Donnarumma has never been adequately replaced in goal.

"We are clearly in difficulty at the moment but we need to maintain hope that will change," said Luis Enrique on Friday. "Confidence is not just something you buy at the supermarket."

Rosenior will be hoping to exploit PSG's weaknesses and repeat the achievements of Roberto Di Matteo and Thomas Tuchel, who both led Chelsea to Champions League glory having been appointed mid-season.

Sports

Five Iran Women Footballers Take Asylum in Australia

Iran team captain Zahra Ghanbari (2-L), Mona Hamoudi (C) and Atefeh Ramazanzadeh (R) react from the bench during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Australia, 08 March 2026. (EPA)
Iran team captain Zahra Ghanbari (2-L), Mona Hamoudi (C) and Atefeh Ramazanzadeh (R) react from the bench during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Australia, 08 March 2026. (EPA)
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Five Iran Women Footballers Take Asylum in Australia

Iran team captain Zahra Ghanbari (2-L), Mona Hamoudi (C) and Atefeh Ramazanzadeh (R) react from the bench during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Australia, 08 March 2026. (EPA)
Iran team captain Zahra Ghanbari (2-L), Mona Hamoudi (C) and Atefeh Ramazanzadeh (R) react from the bench during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group A match between Iran and Philippines at Gold Coast Stadium on the Gold Coast, Australia, 08 March 2026. (EPA)

Five players from Iran's visiting women's football team claimed asylum in Australia on Tuesday, seeking protection after they were branded "traitors" at home for refusing to sing the national anthem.

Iranian players fell silent as the anthem played ahead of a tournament match in Australia last week, an act seen as a symbol of defiance against the country.

US President Donald Trump was among those urging Australia to offer the players asylum, citing grave fears for their safety if they were forced to board a plane home.

Five players, including captain Zahra Ghanbari, slipped away from the team hotel under the cover of darkness to claim sanctuary from Australian officials.

"We've been preparing for this for some time," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

"Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women. They're safe here and they should feel at home here."

Albanese thanked Australian media for their "restraint", hinting that news of the asylum bid had been held back until they were safe.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government had spent days in secret talks with the players, who were whisked to a safe house after leaving their hotel on the Gold Coast.

Pictures showed the players huddled around a table as Burke signed paper work granting them special visas to stay in Australia on humanitarian grounds.

The players broke out into chants of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie", Burke said, adding that the rest of the team would also be welcome to stay in the country if they wished.

It was not clear if the remaining players in the Iranian squad would fly home -- or when they might leave Australia.

US President Trump was among the first to confirm five players were safely in the care of Australian officials, following a late-night call with Prime Minister Albanese.

He had hours earlier urged Australia to do the right thing, saying it would be a "terrible humanitarian mistake" if the players were forced back to Iran.

- 'Wartime traitors' -

A presenter on Iranian state TV branded the players "wartime traitors" after they stood motionless during the anthem before a match against South Korea last week.

Although they sang the anthem -- an ode to the glory of the republic -- in later matches, human rights activists warned the damage was done.

"The members of the Iranian Women's National Football Team are under significant pressure and ongoing threat from the Islamic Republic," said Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah of Iran.

"I call on the Australian government to ensure their safety and give them any and all needed support," he said on social media.

Pahlavi has billed himself as the man to lead a democratic transition to a secular Iran as the theocratic regime fights to survive.

The US and Israel bombarded Iran with heavy missile fire on February 28, killing supreme leader Ali Khamenei with the opening salvos of a war that now threatens to engulf the Middle East.

Politicians, human rights activists and even "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling had called for Australia to offer the side protection.

Crowds gathered outside the Gold Coast stadium where the side played their last match over the weekend, banging drums and shouting "regime change for Iran".

Supporters surrounded the Iranian team bus, chanting "let them go" and "save our girls". On Monday, an AFP journalist saw members of the team speaking on phones from their hotel room balconies.