Inside tennis\u2019 rocky relationship with Djoker … and how AO could mend old wounds<\/a><\/p>\nKokkinakis withdraws from Adelaide Int | 00:37<\/p>\n
Sinner saw off Alexander Zverev in straight sets to win the title a year ago, having come from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the 2024 Australian Open final.<\/p>\n
Should he win three in a row he would join Novak Djokovic as the only men in the Open era to do so.<\/p>\n
The Serbian legend has done the three-peat twice during his 10 titles at Melbourne Park and could meet Sinner in the semi-finals this year, if both get that far.<\/p>\n
The Italian will get his campaign under way against France\u2019s Hugo Gaston, with master coach Darren Cahill again in his corner.<\/p>\n
The pair joined forces in June 2022 and Cahill has overseen Sinner\u2019s elevation to the top of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s so important for all of us, for all the team. He has this huge experience,\u201d Sinner said having convinced the Australian to put his retirement plans on hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the man who has under control kind of everything. He\u2019s our dad for the whole team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aussie Vukic wins & through to quarters | 00:48<\/p>\n
WHY RECORD AUS OPEN MOVE ISN\u2019T QUITE ENOUGH<\/p>\n
Coco Gauff said that a record prize pool at the Australian Open starting on Sunday was \u201cprogress\u201d but \u201cstill not where we\u2019d like it\u201d.<\/p>\n
The leading players in men\u2019s and women\u2019s tennis joined forces last year seeking from the four majors a higher percentage of tournament revenue and contributions towards welfare programmes such as pensions.<\/p>\n
They also want to be consulted when any of the Grand Slams consider making changes that could directly affect them.<\/p>\n
The Australian Open pledged a 16 percent increase in the total prize purse to Aus$111.5 million (US$75 million) this year.<\/p>\n
The winners of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s singles at the first Grand Slam of the year will each take home Aus$4.15 million, up 19 percent from last year.<\/p>\n
Asked on Friday about the increase, two-time major champion Gauff said: \u201cThe percentage is still, of revenue comparison, not where we would like it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s still further conversations that have to be had, not just with the Australian Open, but with all the slams.\u201d <\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThe collective feeling is that, yes, there\u2019s been progress, but I still think it\u2019s not where we would like to see it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tomic misses out of Aus Open again | 00:15<\/p>\n
Top players say the changes they are after would benefit the entire tennis ecosystem, and not just those at the top.<\/p>\n
Asked if she expects more talks with the slams in 2026, Gauff said: \u201cI think no one wants this conversation to be continuing for years and years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I would imagine that we would continue to have those conversations and maybe more pressure being applied with especially the top 10.\u201d <\/p>\n
World number three Alexander Zverev, last year\u2019s beaten Australian Open finalist, struck a less upbeat tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t really feel like there\u2019s any progress, to be honest,\u201d the German said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like it\u2019s just a lot of talk, a lot of time invested into it, and not really any changes.\u201d Women\u2019s world number one Aryna Sabalenka — who like Gauff has represented the players in talks with the majors — was asked if the Australian Open concessions were enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we always can do better,\u201d the four-time Grand Slam champion replied. \u201cBut I think all of the slams, they are trying to work together with us and come to a conclusion. I hope one day we\u2019ll get to a happy place for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sydney amateur wins $1M in 1 point slam | 02:22<\/p>\n
WHY RACE FOR WOMEN\u2019S FINAL ISN\u2019T JUST BETWEEN TWO<\/p>\n
World number one Aryna Sabalenka insisted Friday that the race to the Australian Open title was wide open and not just between herself and Iga Swiatek.<\/p>\n
The Belarusian and Poland\u2019s world number two Swiatek share 10 Grand Slam crowns between them and have been a dominant force over the past few years.<\/p>\n
But Sabalenka, who won in Brisbane last week, said there were multiple threats to the duo at Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s actually not only about me and Iga,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is Coco (Gauff), Elena (Rybakina), Jessica (Pegula). It\u2019s not only about me and her, to be honest.\u201d <\/p>\n
There is also Madison Keys, who stunned Sabalenka to win her maiden Slam in an inspired performance on Rod Laver Arena last year.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka went into the final aiming to become the first woman since Martina Hingis to win three consecutive Australian Opens.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat final was a tough one. She played incredible. Took me a little time to recover,\u201d admitted the Belarusian.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had matches after that. I kind of worked on my mistakes in those matches. Coming into this Australian Open, I\u2019m not really focusing on that result last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut of course I would like to do just a little bit better than I did last year.\u201d <\/p>\n
De Minaur ready for Aus open campaign | 02:20<\/p>\n
Sabalenka had an unusual lead-in to the Australian Open, playing Nick Kyrgios in a much-criticised \u201cBattle of the Sexes\u201d in Dubai before heading to Brisbane.<\/p>\n
She said it served her well for a tilt at a fifth Grand Slam title. \u201cI had a great off-season, so I was really recovered and ready,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I played extra exhibitions, but I think they all made sense. It\u2019s good to have matches to test a couple things that I\u2019ve been working on during the pre-season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a great preparation. Then there was a really high-intensity match against Nick, which is also part of my preparation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the end of the pre-season, I felt really strong and ready.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sabalenka kicks off her campaign against French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.<\/p>\n
Swiatek, who has won the French Open, US Open and Wimbledon but is yet to go past the semi-finals in Melbourne, faces Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian Open gets underway on Sunday and 22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz is eyeing an incredible feat which Roger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-417073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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