Coco Gauff believes all the pressure will be on Emma Raducanu when the two face each other in the second round of the Australian Open.

Neither had any difficulties in their opening matches of the tournament at Melbourne Park on Monday, with Gauff easing past Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-4 while Raducanu dispatched Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 6-2.

Gauff pointed to the pressure Raducanu has faced since her surprise US Open win in 2021 and thinks that her opponent being the main British hope could play to her advantage. 

"Obviously she's gone through a lot of pressure, bursting onto the scene. I feel like probably more than I have experienced coming to win a slam," Gauff said.

"Especially being from the UK, the first British person to do something in a long time, probably is a lot more pressure than what I'm used to being an American. Obviously I was a lot younger when I got the attention, so I definitely think handling it at an older age is a little bit easier than at 15. But also, at the same time, I didn't win a slam.

"There's always, for American fans, someone to look to. Whereas I feel like, the British, it's just her. There's other British players, but no one has done what she's done and gotten that far in a slam."

Raducanu also sealed her passage to the second round without much fuss as she put her recent injury issues behind her with a convincing win over Korpatsch.

"I'm obviously really happy to be through to the second round," Raducanu said. "It was always going to be difficult, coming in with so little prep and being out there.

"Everything I've done has been quite controlled the last week. So to test it out in a real match and with the unpredictability and stuff, I was just getting used to it in the beginning. But it felt good."

Despite being a grand slam winner, Raducanu came into the tournament 77th in the WTA rankings, 70 places below Gauff, but the 20-year-old is looking forward to facing another player she sees as part of the next generation.

"I'm really looking forward to this match," she added. "I'm very up for it. Coco has obviously done a lot of great things and she's playing well.

"I think we're both good, young players, we're both coming through, part of the next generation of tennis, really. It's going to be a great match."

Xavi is confident Barcelona's talented new generation can enjoy a trophy-laden period after landing their first silverware in the post-Lionel Messi era.

The Catalan giants defeated fierce rivals Real Madrid 3-1 at King Fahd International Stadium in a one-sided Supercopa de Espana final in Riyadh on Sunday.

Barcelona, who required penalties to defeat Real Betis in the semi-finals, have now won the domestic cup competition a record-extending 14 times, twice more than Madrid.

However, it arguably marked the start of a new dawn as it was the first trophy Xavi has lifted in his 14 months as head coach, and a first for Barca since Messi left in August 2021.

With the likes of Gavi and Pedri shining in Saudi Arabia, Xavi is hopeful it is the first of many major honours heading to Camp Nou in the coming years.

"We have a really good generation of players and you can see the hunger they have for trophies," Xavi said at his post-match press conference. 

"I hope this will be a point of inflection, but this doesn't stop. On Thursday we have the Copa del Rey, next weekend LaLiga.

"I'm happy for the players. They've received a lot of criticism, unfair in many cases, and they were liberated today. 

"It's a massive morale boost and we can work with more peace of mind. It's also important for the fans. 

"This club has seen everything in recent years: financial problems, the departure of Leo [Messi] was big. I hope this will be the first trophy of many."

Teenage attacking midfielder Gavi opened the scoring for Barca before setting up Robert Lewandowski for the second late in the first half.

The Spain international also laid one on a plate for Pedri in the second half against the reigning European and LaLiga champions, who pulled one back through Karim Benzema.

Not only did Gavi impress in a creative and attacking sense, he also won a game-high 10 duels and was fouled more times (four) than any other player on the field.

"He is a kid that excites everyone," Xavi said of Pedri, who is the youngest player to score in El Clasico (18 years 163 days) since Ansu Fati in October 2020 (17y 359d).

"When you see him compete like that...the heart, soul and character that he plays with are contagious for the rest of the team.

"He's a born leader – it all comes naturally to him, and all at the age of 18. He is spectacular. I don't get tired of praising him. He has no ceiling, so don't slow him down."

Barca also lead Madrid by three points at the top of LaLiga, are through to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey and remain in Europa League contention.

Xavi added: "This performance makes the players believe in what we are doing. But we cannot stop here."

Kirk Cousins acknowledged "probably the toughest loss" of his career after the Minnesota Vikings were beaten 31-24 by the New York Giants in the Wild Card round.

The quarterback completed 31 of 39 pass attempts, throwing two touchdowns and rushing for another, but it was his final play of the game that will be remembered most.

With 1:44 left in the fourth quarter and Minnesota fourth and eight on their own 48-yard line, Cousins threw to T.J. Hockenson, who was still five yards or so short of first-down sticks.

The alert Xavier McKinney ensured Hockenson only went backwards from there and closed the game out as the Vikings saw their last chance evaporate.

After the game, Cousins explained the thinking that went into the play, saying: "I tried to work Justin [Jefferson], but didn't feel good about putting it up to Justin and then when I went to progress I just felt like I was about to get sacked. I felt like I had to put the ball in play and cant go down with a sack. I felt I'd kick it out to T.J.

"I'd thrown short of the sticks on a few occasions in the game and even going back a few weeks, and felt throwing short of the sticks isn't the end of the world. It was obviously tight coverage so didn't have the chance to pull away.

"It's probably the toughest loss I've had in my career, so it hurts."

Coach Kevin O'Connell backed his quarterback, adding: "Looking back on it, maybe he could've been a little bit more, 'Hey, this is where you want the ball to go', but I want Kirk to play, I want him to be free out there to make good decisions.

"In the end, I look at that as much as anything that it's on me with that play call, even if we had eligibles with a chance down the field. Maybe that's always a play that could be better. That one will always stick with me."

Cousin's opposite number Daniel Jones also threw two touchdowns, completing 24 of 35 passes in the game, and was described as an "elite quarterback" by team-mate Saquon Barkley after the win.

Jones said the Giants just had to overcome early nerves, and they were able to hold out after Barkley's touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter gave them a precious lead.

"I think there were definitely some nerves going into it," he said. "We were excited. There was a lot of anticipating going into it.

"Once we settled in and started playing, it felt the same. It was just about execution and doing our job play after play. I thought as a group we did that well."

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham labelled LeBron James as "phenomenal" after scoring his 38,000th NBA career point, while the four-time MVP refused to discuss the milestone after another loss.

The Lakers slumped to a 19-24 record with Sunday's 113-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers where Russell Westbrook failed to get a clear shot or pass away on the final play.

Earlier, James made history in the first quarter by bringing up his 38,000th career point, joining only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with that milestone.

James is on track to usurp Abdul-Jabbar's all-time NBA record of 38,387 points next month, although he would not be drawn on that after the game.

Instead, Ham offered praise for James, who finished with 35 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists.

"I thought Bron was phenomenal," Ham told reporters. "Really playing downhill. Playing the right way, running off the ball.

"Really finding guys as well. I thought he was really, really good."

James' performance was his 525th career 30-point game, while he is averaging 35.2 points, 10.0 rebounds and 8.5 assists across the past six games.

The 38-year-old was not in a reflective mood after the game, ignoring the 38,000-point milestone for concern about a disappointing loss.

"We got a stop, gave ourselves a chance to win the game and we didn't," James said about the final play.

"It's just frustrating, getting in those positions and not being able to come away with the victory."

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh refused to criticise Tyler Huntley but says he failed to execute the play design leading to Sam Hubbard's game-winning fumble return TD on Sunday.

The Ravens were eliminated from the postseason 24-17 by the Cincinnati Bengals, with Hubbard's touchdown marking a 14-point swing with Baltimore pressing for a go-ahead score at the time.

The Bengals' defense held on, before Huntley tried a QB sneak on a third-and-goal, leaping into the air with both hands on the ball, but it was knocked out by Logan Wilson allowing defensive end Hubbard to recover it and race away for a 98-yard touchdown, which was the longest fumble return TD in NFL playoff history.

"We felt we had a good call," Harbaugh told reporters. "It's a push sneak play.

"It wasn’t executed. Tyler went over the top. It's a burrow play, he needs to go low on that. That's the way the play is designed. We felt like that was the best call, we just didn’t execute it right."

Huntley, starting in the absence of injured former MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, kept the Ravens in the contest with a strong performance that was praised by Harbaugh. The Ravens lost four of six games this season that Jackson did not start.

The Ravens QB threw 17-of-29 passes for 226 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, along with 54 rushing yards having had injury concerns coming into the game. Huntley's career-best 35-yard run had got the Ravens within the goal line before Hubbard's TD.

"Tyler Huntley coming in and playing the way he played coming off the shoulder and wrist injuries and fighting his way back on to the field," Harbaugh said. "Just giving it everything he had, that kind of performance.

"We didn’t win the game, we're disappointed in that, but I've got nothing but admiration for our guys."

Cincinnati's win means Zac Taylor is 4-1 in playoff games as Bengals head coach. The Bengals scored 14 points off two Ravens' turnovers, with QB Joe Burrow held to 209 yards on 23-of-32 passing.

"That's why you just never give up on a drive," Taylor said. "Even when it's down there, inside the two, that's what our defense, the whole redzone really over the last couple of years has been awesome from our defense. Today was no different.

"For Logan to knock that ball out, Sam to finish that off 98 yards, it really changed the momentum of the game. You're looking at a 14-point swing there, going down seven, going up seven.

"It was a challenge on offense. It's one of the better defenses we faced all year. We knew that going in and our defense really carried us in the fourth quarter. We needed that."

LeBron James became the second player to 38,000 career NBA points before Russell Westbrook's failed final play as the Los Angeles Lakers lost 113-112 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

With the Sixers leading by one point, Westbrook rebounded after Joel Embiid missed a two-point shot with 16 seconds remaining, opting to advance the ball, rather than take a timeout, before failing to get a clean shot or pass away as the clock expired under defense from Embiid and Georges Niang.

The finish took some gloss off James' significant achievement, reaching the 38,000 career points mark in the first quarter, before finishing the game with 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Only one player in NBA history has more career points than James and that is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 38,387. James is on track to surpass Abdul-Jabbar next month.

The game was tight throughout, with Embiid top scoring for the Sixers with 35 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field with two three-pointers. Embiid also had 11 rebounds and four assists. James Harden contributed 24 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists.

Westbrook played 34 minutes of the bench with 20 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists but four turnovers. That marked Westbrook's 198th career triple-double.

Jokic sinks late three to clinch Nugs win

Back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic landed a step-back three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left to secure the Denver Nuggets a 119-116 victory over the Orlando Magic.

Jokic finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists for his 12th triple-double of the season, with the Nugs clinching their 13th straight home win to remain top of the Western Conference.

Aaron Gordon added 25 points with eight rebounds and five assists, while Jamal Murray delivered 18 points with three three-pointers and seven assists.

Lillard leads Blazers past Mavs missing Doncic

Damian Lillard backed up with 40 points for the Portland Trail Blazers to complete a two-game back-to-back sweep of the Dallas Mavericks, 140-123.

Lillard shot 10-of-17 from the field and four-of-nine from three-point range with six assists for the Blazers, who had lost five in a row prior to the two games against Dallas.

The Mavs rested Luka Doncic after his season-low 15 points in Saturday's game, having starred in Thursday's double overtime win over the Lakers.

Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios has been left "devastated" by a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from his home grand slam, the Australian Open, on Monday.

The Australian 19th seed was due to face Roman Safiullin on Tuesday but opted out on Monday. He will be replaced by lucky loser Denis Kudla.

Kyrgios had undergone a routine MRI on his knee which revealed a cyst as a result of a small lateral meniscus tear, forcing him out of the opening major of the year. The 27-year-old will undergo an arthroscopic surgery to heal the knee injury.

"Bad timing. Injuries are part of the sport," Kyrgios told reporters. "I'm devastated obviously, it's my home slam.

"It's pretty brutal. One of the most important tournaments of my career, so it hasn’t been easy at all."

Kyrgios, who pulled out of the United Cup late last month citing exhaustion, had played Novak Djokovic in an exhibition match on Friday.

The Australian started to feel some discomfort in his knee during that match, before making the decision to pull out on Monday.

"I wanted to give myself hope, I thought I had a chance," he said.

The 2022 Wimbledon finalist had been placed in the same section of the draw as nine-time Australian Open champion Djokovic along with Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune.

Kyrgios was the highest-ranked local player in the men's and women's singles draws, with 22nd seed Alex de Minaur the next best Australian hope.

Reigning women's singles champion Ash Barty retired last year, while compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic, ranked 35th in the world, withdrew due to an ongoing knee issue on the weekend.

Sam Hubbard scored a record-breaking go-ahead 98-yard fumble return touchdown to earn the Cincinnati Bengals a thrilling 24-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens in their AFC Wild Card Game on Sunday.

Defensive end Hubbard raced clear for the longest go-ahead TD in NFL postseason history as the Ravens pressed for the lead on a third-and-goal on Tyler Huntley's QB sneak, as he leapt up to break the plane of the goalline, only for Logan Wilson to knock it out.

Hubbard's go-ahead touchdown, scored with 11:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, was also the longest fumble return TD in NFL playoff history.

Baltimore had been mounting the pressure with scores locked 17-17 with Huntley's 35-yard run, the longest of his career, pushing them to the goalline, but the Bengals' defense held up, before the fumble return TD ignited Paul Brown Stadium.

Huntley threw a final-second pass on fourth-and-20, which James Proche got a hand on, but could not hold. The Ravens QB, starting in the absence of injured former MVP Lamar Jackson, had kept his side in the game on 17-of-29 passing for 226 yards with two TD passes and one interception, adding 54 rushing yards.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow completed 23-of-32 passes for 209 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown, but was sacked four times. Ja'Marr Chase had nine receptions for 84 yards.

It was a seesawing encounter with the Bengals dominating the first quarter led by Chase, before Burrow connected with the wide receiver to cap a six-minute, 10-play drive.

The Ravens hit back in the second to lead 10-9 at halftime, with Huntley finding J.K. Dobbins to score, while Burrow was sacked three times in the first half.

The two sides traded touchdowns in the third, with Burrow slithering across after Hayden Hurst thought he had scored yet fell half a yard short, before Huntley threw a 41-yard TD pass for Demarcus Robinson.

Kim Si-woo secured the fourth PGA Tour win of his career after producing a remarkable finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

After beginning the week with back-to-back rounds of 67, Kim posted consecutive 64s on the weekend to finish at 18 under.

He trailed by one as he reached the 17th hole, and despite missing the green on the par-three, he pulled things even at 17 under with a chip-in. He then reached the green on the par-five final hole in two shots, two-putting for another birdie to take the outright lead.

Kim finished a few holes before Hayden Buckley in the final group, leaving Buckley with a chance to force a playoff if he could birdie either of the 17th or 18th, but he could only muster a pair of pars.

Buckley may have had the edge if he could have taken it to a playoff, with Kim winless in his three playoffs on the PGA Tour, but he finished at 17 under in outright second.

For Kim, the victory is just his second in the six years since bursting onto the scene when he won The Players Championship in 2017, with his only other title since then coming in January 2021 at The American Express.

Chris Kirk finished alone in third at 15 under, while England's Ben Taylor tied for fourth at 14 under with American duo Andrew Putnam and David Lipsky.

The New York Giants snapped a 10-season streak without a playoff win by defeating the Minnesota Vikings 31-24 in Sunday's Wild Card game.

New York had not won a playoff game since capping the 2011 season with the franchise's fourth Super Bowl, but they rode a pair of strong performances from their offensive centrepieces to upset the 13-4 Vikings on the road.

Quarterback Daniel Jones became the first player to ever tally 300 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 70 rushing yards in a playoff game, while star running back Saquon Barkley had 109 yards from scrimmage and scored two rushing touchdowns.

Incredibly, neither team committed a turnover, with Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins also delivering an impressive 273 yards and two touchdowns, but he was unable to produce in the fourth quarter.

It was the Vikings who scored first through a Cousins quarterback sneak from the opening drive of the game, but their lead did not even last until quarter time as Barkley and receiver Isaiah Hodges found the endzone in response.

After trading scores in the second and third periods, the Vikings pulled things level at 24-24 early in the fourth with a field goal, but Jones answered with a defining 12-play, 75-yard drive, setting up Barkley for the game-winning touchdown.

The Vikings had two drives and seven minutes to try and tie things up, but the Giants' defense rose to the occasion and closed it out.

New York will try to continue their march to the Super Bowl next week in the Divisional round against the league-leading Philadelphia Eagles (14-3).

Christophe Galtier sucked up another painful Ligue 1 defeat for Paris Saint-Germain and told his World Cup stars they must find their focus again.

PSG began the year with a seven-point lead at the top of Ligue 1, but that has been clipped to three after defeats to Lens and now Rennes, who beat the Parisians 1-0 on Sunday.

Head coach Galtier will face scrutiny for such domestic losses, given the superstars at his disposal, and he knows he and the team must start to show their best again.

Galtier told Prime Video: "I'm mainly disappointed with our performance. We didn't create anything, we had very few favourable situations.

"We focused on having possession of the ball and we had far too many players who dropped back without having players high enough to secure the Rennes defensive line."

PSG had only eight attempts on goal, their lowest total in a league game this season, and only one went on target. The defeat was a third in their last four trips to Rennes in the league, with the Breton side firmly established as a bogey side for the capital giants.

Galtier pointed to issues with Lionel Messi and Neymar having no obvious targets when looking to move the ball forward, and that situation persisted when Kylian Mbappe came on as a substitute early in the second half, replacing the ineffective Hugo Etikike.

The former Lille, Saint-Etienne and Nice coach said there was an "urgent" need for PSG to get back on track.

"Obviously we're going to have to find a lot more play and connection between the lines," he said. "We knew we would have a difficult match, and we had it. The opposing goalkeeper was barely troubled. We need to find a lot more rhythm, intensity and technical relationship between one another.

"I'm not going to talk about worry, but there has to be awareness. We can find a thousand excuses, but the World Cup is over.

"Even if we have been dispersed for eight weeks, we need to find cohesion and rhythm in our game."

PSG will head to Saudi Arabia next to face a Riyadh Season Team, made up of players from Al Hilal and Al Nassr, in an exhibition game on Thursday.

Al Nassr's new signing Cristiano Ronaldo could be involved in that game, but Galtier wants intense focus from his players when they get a chance to train on the getaway.

They do not have another Ligue 1 game until Reims visit the Parc des Princes on January 29, although there is a Coupe de France tie against minnows Pays de Cassel on January 23.

"We will have 10 days to work," Galtier said.

Lens are their nearest challengers, but Marseille are only five points adrift of PSG.

"The championship is tight," Galtier said. "I'm not used to looking at the standings but I'm concentrating on performance and I have work to do."

Warren Zaire-Emery, at the age of 16 years and 313 days, became the youngest player in PSG's history to start a Ligue 1 match. He played 72 minutes before being replaced by Carlos Soler.

Galtier will gather his players to show them video comparisons with how the team are performing now and how they played prior to the World Cup.

Mbappe was the World Cup's top scorer, while Messi brilliantly captained Argentina to the trophy, being named player of the tournament. Such form has been mostly lacking since resuming PSG duties, but they are not the only ones culpable.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was absent from Qatar 2022 after Italy failed to qualify, said PSG's players are furious by their collective drop-off in performance.

"We are angry, and we have to bounce back immediately after this match, from this defeat, because we have no more time to lose," Donnarumma said, quoted on the club's website.

"It was an avoidable loss. They didn't have many chances but we should have done more. We have to learn from this game. We are upset, but now we have to focus on the next game."

Julius Randle enjoyed one of his best games of the season on Sunday in the New York Knicks' 117-104 road victory against the Detroit Pistons.

Randle became the first Knicks player to score at least 40 points and grab 15 rebounds or more in the same game since Patrick Ewing in 1996.

He finished with 42 points on 15-of-24 shooting to set a new season-high, while his 15 rebounds were par for the course during his red-hot start to 2023.

Since the new year began, Randle is averaging 24.5 points and 14.7 rebounds per contest, snatching at least 15 rebounds in five of the seven games to propel the Knicks to seven wins from their past eight outings.

Speaking after the game, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau heaped praise on the man seeking to make his second All-Star team this season.

"Just great – not just the scoring, it was all around, everything," he said. "I loved how we started the game, and I thought [Randle] set the tone for us.

"In watching [the Pistons] play, getting ready to play them, I knew how well they had been playing. Sometimes that's hard to get across, but I thought Julius helped set the tone for being ready.

"Getting that lead early – we needed all of it. Whenever we needed a big bucket, [Randle] stepped up and delivered. 

"His defense – there's so many things – his rebounding is just huge. He got every big rebound down the stretch. He had tough covers, he was all over the place, on the perimeter guarding guards and everything else. I thought he was terrific."

Fellow Knicks All-Star-hopeful Jalen Brunson has also started 2023 in fine fashion, averaging 33.3 points, 6.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds in January, but he made it clear Randle is at the centre of New York's success.

"He played great, he played how Julius plays," he said. "He was aggressive, he was dominant on both sides of the ball.

"He was focused – he's been focused for a long time – and he's taken it up a notch. We just have to keep following his lead, he's doing a great job."

With the win, the Knicks moved to 25-19, and 14-8 on the road, which is tied for the second-best record away from home this season.

Thibodeau said that is no coincidence, and it all starts on the defensive end. New York boast the NBA's third-best defense (110.1 points per 100 possessions) during away games, but are 25th (113.3) at home.

"I just think it's about going in and understanding that it starts with defense, and that's what carries you," he said. "Your defense, your rebounding and taking care of the ball – so eliminate all the ways in which you beat yourself first.

"On offense, if you're willing to share and we help create rhythm for each other, we're going to be very good offensively.

"Tonight, we made it a power game. They went small, so we rebounded the ball, got to the line, and did the things we wanted to do to control the game."

The Knicks will try to make it eight wins from nine when they host the Toronto Raptors on Monday.