Tennis

Timofeeva, a 20-year-old qualifier, was impressive against 2018 champion Wozniacki, who flew through the first set and was a break up in the second.

It was a fourth career win over a top-10 player for Dayana Yastrekmska, most recently beating then world number three Barbora Krejcikova in Dubai in 2022.

Fourth seed Jannik Sinner got off to a winning start in his bid to claim his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open as the Italian defeated unseeded Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4 7-5 6-3 in the opening round.

With a title, Djokovic will pass Australian Margaret Court's all-time Slam record and join Court (Australian Open) and Rafael Nadal (French Open) as the only players ever to win 11 times at a single major.

Czech world number seven Vondrousova was due to play her first-round match on Tuesday evening, but the WTA said she had withdrawn, citing a hip injury.

Coco Gauff, who had been barely extended in her run to the final, finished the stronger to take the only break of the third set and pick up an eighth WTA title in 2hr 35min.

In Perth, a confident Zheng was content with the growing media attention and at ease dealing with her ever-increasing number of fans.

With her victory over Helgo, world number 20 Garcia extended her singles record this year to 3-0, but it was an uphill climb against a player ranked 544.

Matthew Ebden and Storm Hunter combined effectively in the decisive mixed doubles match to beat Jessica Pegula and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-1 as the hosts moved into the quarterfinal of the tournament with a 2-1 win over USA.

The former world No.3 was a set down to 20-year-old Australian James McCabe in a first round qualifying match when fans courtside spotted the snake.

The Serbian superstar is the king of the Melbourne Park hard courts, winning the Australian Open a record 10 times, with an 11th in his sights next month.

Novak Djokovic is preparing for the start of his 22nd season as a professional.

Dominic Thiem, who made the Melbourne Park final in 2020, can still gain direct entry into the main draw of the tournament if one player pulls out.

Rohit Rajpal will be the non-playing captain for India and Zeeshan Ali will serve as the coach.

TPL season 5 will also feature a charcoal-coloured court in all the matches for the first time ever in India, as the league continues to innovate to add to the experience of the spectators.

Djokovic was enraged as some fans tried to drown out his victory speech with drums, which the superstar said he felt he had to respond to.