Newly hired Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon will take some time to assess whether veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill will remain the starter going forwards.
Carthon was hired on Tuesday after six years in the San Francisco 49ers' front office, earning his first general manager role at 41 years old.
He takes over as decision-maker for a Titans franchise that missed the playoffs this season for the first time since 2018, and his first order of business will be assessing the quarterback situation.
Tannehill has guided the Titans to their past three postseason berths, but after going 7-3, 11-5 and 12-5 as a starter in those seasons, he battled injuries and struggled to 6-6 in his 12 games this campaign.
After missing out on the playoffs two weeks ago, Vrabel told reporters he still has faith in Tannehill.
"He is our starting quarterback," he said. "If he is healthy, he is our starting quarterback."
It may not be that simple, however, as Carthon said during his introductory press conference on Friday that he needs more time before deciding on the franchise's future at the sport's most important position.
"We're still evaluating the roster," he said. "Ryan has been great here. He's won a lot of football games.
"I look forward to us winning football games, but I still need more time to evaluate and make those decisions."
He added: "This is a quarterback-driven league – people are hired and fired every day over that position.
"I want to spend more time evaluating that position so I will have my own opinion. Then, Mike and I will confer and we'll figure it out."
Behind Tannehill, the Titans also have Malik Willis coming into his second season. The third-round draft pick made three starts in his rookie year, but did not reach 100 passing yards in any of his appearances.
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr believes a 72-game regular season would mostly eliminate the need for rest games after choosing to sit his stars against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
The Warriors were coming off an overtime loss against the Boston Celtics on Thursday where reigning NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry played 43 minutes, while his future Hall of Fame team-mates Draymond Green and Klay Thompson both eclipsed 36 minutes.
Asking them to jump straight on a plane after the game and suit up again 24 hours later against the Cavaliers was too unrealistic, according to Kerr, who was apologetic about the fact that paying fans would not get the opportunity to see the headliners in action.
Speaking to the media before the game, Kerr made it clear these situations are avoidable if the league would be willing to shorten the 82-game regular season.
"I feel terrible for fans who buy tickets expecting to see someone play and they don't get to see that person play," he said. "It's a brutal part of the business. It's why I'm going to continue to advocate for 72-game seasons.
"You take 10 games off the schedule – it always feels like with 10 games left in the year everybody's sort of had it anyways.
"That creates enough rest where we don't have to have some of these crazy situations. I think you'd see way fewer games missed from players."
He added: "We have so much more data, so much more awareness of players' vulnerability. It's proven that if guys are banged up, back-to-backs, players are much more likely to get injured and miss more games – and that's why you're seeing it league wide.
"Everybody is being cautious when a guy is banged up. You're just playing the long game."
The Minnesota Twins and Miami Marlins pulled off a blockbuster trade Friday, with Minnesota sending AL batting champion Luis Arraez to Miami in exchange for starting pitcher Pablo Lopez and two minor leaguers.
Arraez, 25, had a breakout season for the Twins last season, batting a league-best .316 with eight home runs and 49 RBIs in 144 games while denying the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (.311) a Triple Crown. The return of shortstop Carlos Correa allowed Minnesota to deal from a position of strength.
''Anytime you have a player that's well-liked in the environment, who you know is going to go work and do it every day which we got to see with Luis, it makes it harder,'' Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. ''We'd love to have Luis and Pablo on our team, but to get something as impactful as what Pablo brings to our team, you have to give something impactful.''
The 26-year-old Lopez went 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA in a career-best 180 innings over 32 starts last season, his fifth in the major leagues. He posted a 1.83 ERA in his first 10 starts and pitched to a 2.86 ERA through the All-Star break before slumping to a 4.97 ERA in the second half.
The right-hander shoulder bolster a deep rotation that features Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle, Kenta Maeda and Joey Ryan.
''I'm really excited about coming to this team, the leaders they have in the clubhouse and the players they have to support each other,'' Lopez said on a video interview with reporters. ''It's a mentality that really motivates me too. I ask and expect more of myself when it comes to my performance and the ways I can help out the team.''
Also headed to Minnesota in the deal are infielder Jose Salas and outfielder Byron Chourio. The 19-year-old Salas was picked as the organisation’s fifth-best prospect in the most recent MLB Pipeline rankings. Chourio, 17, played in the Dominican Summer League last season after signing with the Marlins in June.
Arraez spent most of his time at first base last season for the Twins, with 61 starts there, 34 at designated hitter and 31 at second base. He also appeared at third base and left field.
He is one of baseball’s toughest outs with only 131 strikeouts in 1,569 career plate appearances. Arraez only had 14 career homers in 389 games, but has a career on-base percentage of .374.
Even with Lopez’s departure, the Marlins still have a rotation topped by NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara and newly acquired right-hander Johnny Cueto.
Offense was a bigger need after Miami ranked 14th in the National League last season with a .230 batting average and last with 586 runs.
After two rounds at The American Express it is Davis Thompson and Jon Rahm who have broken away from the field, both at least three strokes clear of third place.
Thompson was the first-round leader after riding back-to-back eagles to a 10-under 62 – the best score of his PGA Tour career – and he added three more eagles in his second round to follow it up with a 64 and head into the weekend at 18 under. His five eagles ties the PGA Tour record for the most through 36 holes at any event.
He is two strokes clear of Rahm at 16 under after the world number four went bogey-free for his second 64 in a row.
Both players began their week on the La Quinta Country Club course, and both played the PGA West's Nicklaus Tournament course on Friday. They will play Saturday's round on the PGA West Stadium Course, which is also where Sunday's final round will be contested.
There are some big names in the chasing pack, with South Korean rising star Tom Kim and former world number one Jason Day part of a five-man group at 13 under.
Patton Kizzire is alone in eighth at 12 under, while world number six Xander Schauffele rounds out the top-10 in a tie for ninth at 11 under.
World number two Scottie Scheffler and number five Patrick Cantlay are still in the hunt at 10 under, while number seven Will Zalatoris is one shot inside the theoretical cut line at six under, but all players will get one more round before the cut at the conclusion of round three.
An emotionally charged encounter is on the cards when the Buffalo Bills host the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional round given the events when the two sides met just over two weeks ago.
In the Week 17 contest in Cincinnati, Damar Hamlin's collapse and cardiac arrest brought the NFL to a standstill.
Now, the Bills will continue to be spurred on by news of Hamlin's improving health throughout the playoffs – not that they have needed much help of late.
A 34-31 Wild Card victory against the Miami Dolphins was the third playoff game in a row in which they have scored at least 34 points. Prior to this run, the Bills had tallied 34 or more points in just five of their first 34 playoff games.
Buffalo are 11-2 in the postseason when scoring at least 28 points, compared to a 7-17 record when scoring 27 or fewer.
The Bills will have confidence in Josh Allen to lead them to another big score after his latest impressive playoff showing. His 352 passing yards against the Dolphins last week represented the third-best such performance by a Bills quarterback in the playoffs, behind only Jim Kelly (405 in the 1989 Divisional round) and Doug Flutie (360 in the 1998 Wild Card round).
It was Allen's fourth playoff game with at least 300 passing yards and multiple touchdown passes, making him one of only 10 players in NFL history to have at least four such games. He has only played seven playoff games in total.
The Bengals might represent a step up, however, with this the first game at the Divisional round or earlier in NFL history to have both teams entering on winning streaks of at least eight games.
Both previous playoff encounters between the sides have gone in the Bengals' favour, although their last postseason meeting was in the 1988 season.
The Bengals reached this stage with a 24-17 victory against the Baltimore Ravens, which made this the first time they have had wins in back-to-back postseasons.
Even so, they have a knack for close playoff games, with their last six all decided by seven or fewer points.
To come out on top in another tight matchup, the Bengals will need to do a better job of protecting Joe Burrow, who was sacked four times against the Ravens and has been sacked 23 times in his five career playoff games, tied with Wade Wilson from 1987 to 1989 for the most through a QB's first five playoff starts since at least 1970.
An NFC East rivalry clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants in the Divisional Round might seem set to be one-sided.
The Eagles won both of their games against the Giants in the regular season.
A series sweep for the first time in three seasons boosted a dominant record for the Eagles against the Giants in recent history, having won 20 of 26 meetings since 2010.
However, they have never beaten a team three times in the same season.
Playoff encounters between the Eagles and the Giants are split down the middle with two wins each. The last such encounter came in the 2008 Divisional Round, which saw Philadelphia become the first sixth seed in the NFC to defeat the top seed.
When coming off a bye in the Divisional Round against a team who played in the Wild Card round, the Eagles stand 3-0 and are 5-0 at home in this stage of the playoffs all-time – the best record for any side in NFL history.
In a bid to continue that run, Jalen Hurts will look wide to inflict damage upon the Giants, with 65.4 per cent (200) of the quarterback's 306 completions this season being to wide receivers – of QBs with at least 250 completions this season, only the Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa had a higher percentage (72.2).
The Eagles also possess a giant killer on the ground. Running back Boston Scott has scored a touchdown in all eight of his career appearances against the Giants (10 total), tied for the third-longest such streak against New York in the league.
While all of that will be a concern to the Giants, they enter the encounter with an impressive run of results away from home in the playoffs.
Victory in Minnesota against the Vikings in the Wild Card round secured the Giants' sixth triumph in seven road playoff games dating back to the 2007 season, with only the Baltimore Ravens (eight) having more postseason road wins in that time.
Daniel Jones enters the game on the back of a stellar performance, throwing for 301 yards and rushing for 75 against the Vikings to become the third player all-time to have at least 300 yards in the air and 75 on the ground in a playoff game, joining Lamar Jackson and Steve Young.
Jones' aerial tally against the Vikings was his third-highest this season, behind 341 yards in Week 11 against the Detroit Lions and 334 yards against Minnesota in Week 16.
However, it was the only game of the three where the Giants emerged victorious.
While hitting such numbers against the Eagles could well be too much to ask, Jones will certainly need to improve upon his total of 169 from Week 14 against Philadelphia – his third-lowest tally on the season.
The San Francisco 49ers Divisional Round clash against the Dallas Cowboys is a game where the number 11 tells a different story for both sides.
For the 49ers, their run of 11 straight wins, each of which has come without multiple turnovers, puts them in good stead to advance to the penultimate round of the playoffs under the stewardship of rookie quarterback Brock Purdy.
No side in NFL history has ever recorded 11 consecutive wins in a single season without conceding multiple turnovers in any of those games, with the last such occasion for the 49ers being a trio of turnovers against Kansas City in Week 7 – the second game in a row that saw three turnovers for San Francisco.
The 49ers' winning run has come with Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, excelling in a remarkable run that could result in accolades should San Francisco go all the way.
Purdy has become one of 12 QBs in NFL history to enjoy a six-start undefeated stint with 120.0 or better passer rating and had his team score over 200 points, with all the previous 11 either winning the Super Bowl or an MVP award in their careers.
Despite throwing three touchdown passes and accumulating 332 passing yards against the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round, Purdy was not at his best, finishing the game with 60 per cent passing accuracy, completing 18 of 30 attempts.
While Purdy boasted the third-most passing yards of the Wild Card round, behind only Josh Allen (352) and Tom Brady (351), only Tyler Huntley threw fewer completions (17) in last week's contests.
Averaging 11.07 yards per completion, incomplete passes did not hinder the 49ers against Seattle but better efficiency against the Cowboys may be required.
In contrast to the 49ers' fine winning streak this season, Dallas are looking to bring an end to a disappointing franchise record, having failed to reach the Championship Game in their last 11 playoff appearances.
Dallas' last Championship Game appearance came 27 years ago, on their way to victory at Super Bowl XXX, with their streak being the longest across the NFL in that regard.
Victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week was only their fifth playoff win since Super Bowl XXX, and the Cowboys' hopes rest on Dak Prescott.
Prescott enters the game on the back of a stellar performance against the Buccaneers, where he became the first QB in NFL history to complete 75 per cent of his passes (when counting players with at least 30 attempts), throw four TD passes without an interception and rush for 20 yards and a TD in a single game.
A similar performance will likely be required to cause an upset against the in-form 49ers, though last season's defeat in the Wild Card game at home to San Francisco may serve as encouragement.
Maria Sakkari joined eight of her fellow co-stars from the Netflix series Break Point in suffering an early exit from the Australian Open.
Of the 10 players to have featured in the series, which first aired on the streaming platform last week, only Felix Auger-Aliassime remains following Sakkari's defeat to Lin Zhu on Friday.
Sakkari, the WTA sixth seed, went down 7-6 1-6 6-4 to world number 87 Lin, who claimed her first victory over a top-10 opponent.
Lin became the sixth Chinese female player to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open in the Open Era.
"I mean honestly, am I in a dream?" Lin said in her on-court interview.
"I have to believe in myself that I have the ability to be able to play at this high level. Who knows what's going to happen? You never know."
She added in her press conference: "It means a lot. It makes me believe that I can play at this level and I can beat a player like her.
"It took me a long time to get here, and so that's why I'm so emotional. This is not the end. Let's keep going."
Sakkari's defeat saw the Greek join Thanasi Kokkinakis, Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berrettini, Casper Ruud and Ons Jabeur in exiting the season's first grand slam within the opening three rounds.
Ruud and Jabeur were the respective second seeds in the men's and women's singles, while Berrettini and Kokkinakis both fell foul of a resurgent Andy Murray, whose victory comeback over Kokkinakis lasted almost six hours and went on beyond 4:00 am local time.
Nick Kyrgios, Ajla Tomljanovic and Paula Badosa also featured in the five-part Netflix series, which will air its second batch of episodes later in the year, but all three withdrew from the Australian Open due to injury.
A downcast Sakkari, who had rubbished the suggestion of any "Netflix curse" in a previous press conference, told reporters: "I think that my level was not good at all. I started the match by being very defensive and not hitting the ball, just being scared of playing my game.
"She had basically nothing to lose. She was playing free. She was enjoying herself. She was playing very, very well. I didn't handle the situation well.
"She was barely missing anything, [not] making any unforced errors. That's how I felt. She was very solid from both sides. I've seen her on the tour. I've never seen her playing that well, to be honest.
"Of course, beating Jil [Teichmann] in the round before, she was pretty pumped and motivated to have a good result here. She has achieved it already by beating two very good players."
Lin's next opponent will be two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who became the eighth female player in the Open Era to win 45+ main draw matches at the Australian Open by beating Madison Keys 1-6 6-2 6-1.
Azarenka joins Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova on that list.
"She's a great champion," Lin said of Azarenka. "She's a great player. I will just keep playing like I played today and trust myself, enjoy the match. Who knows?"
Chris Eubank Jr wore a rainbow armband as he weighed in for Saturday's fight with Liam Smith, following his rival's use of homophobic taunts during a press conference.
With Eubank Jr and Smith set to meet in a middleweight contest in Manchester, both fighters launched personal attacks at a contentious media gathering on Thursday, with Smith repeatedly questioning his opponent's sexuality.
In return, Eubank Jr taunted Smith about his social class.
Smith admitted he had "crossed the line" after being heavily criticised for asking Eubank: "Nobody in this room has ever seen you with a woman. Do you have something you want to tell us?"
Having responded by wearing a rainbow armband throughout Friday's weigh-in, Eubank Jr posted an image of his face-off with Smith on Twitter, alongside the caption: "We don’t discriminate…
"We don't alienate. We want boxing, and sport as a whole, to be all inclusive."
Eubank Jr, who has recorded 32 wins and two defeats in his professional career, had earlier said the duo's exchange made him more motivated to win the bout by knockout.
"Everybody reacts in different ways to getting ready to fight another man," Eubank Jr said.
"He's so hell-bent on trying to prove he's not rattled that he just went off the rails and I had to put him in line.
"We both went there, it got personal, that's okay. Boxing is personal, fighting another man is one of the most personal things you can do. So, I get it.
"But I've always wanted to win this fight by knockout. The fact that Liam is being a child up here, it gives me a bit of extra incentive to embarrass him."
Sebastian Korda sent two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev packing from the Australian Open but admitted: "I'm definitely the worst athlete in the family."
It was not even a show of modesty from Korda but a reflection of the sporting success his parents and siblings have achieved.
The 22-year-old American has had big wins before, yet his 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) win against 2021 US Open champion Medvedev on Rod Laver Arena might go down as the best of the lot. It was his first win over a top-10 player in a grand slam and means Medvedev will slide out of that elite group at the end of the tournament.
Korda has made an outstanding start to the year, defeating Andy Murray and Jannik Sinner on his way to the Adelaide International 1 final, where he took a set off Novak Djokovic.
Now he is through to the fourth round of a major for a third second time after previous runs at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Reminded about his father Petr's Australian Open men's singles title in 1998, Korda stepped in to say: "Even better, though, my sisters won the Australian Open in women's golf."
LPGA Tour stars Jessica and Nelly Korda took that title in 2012 and 2019, respectively, on the way to being recognised among the biggest stars in their sport.
Mother Regina was also an established tennis player on the WTA circuit in the 1980s and early 1990s.
"I don't know what I'm going to be ranked. My mum's career-high was number 24, my dad was two," Korda said.
"Nelly, my sister was number one, my older sister Jessica was six, so I'm definitely the worst athlete in the family so far."
As it stands, Korda has moved to 28th on the provisional ATP rankings by coming through three rounds.
He won the Australian Open boys' title in 2018 but now has bigger targets, with a fourth-round tussle against Hubert Hurkacz ahead of him.
Korda has Andre Agassi in his corner, albeit distantly. He has described the four-time Australian Open winner as a "mentor", and Las Vegas-based Agassi stayed up until the early hours at home to watch the Medvedev match.
"He texted me. He's going to bed now," Korda said after his late-night win in Melbourne.
"He's one of the most special people in my life. We started talking during COVID in 2020. He's been one of the biggest parts in my rise. Just overall as a tennis player, as a human being. We spend a lot of time together. He's very special to me."
Now 10th seed Hurkacz awaits, and Korda, seeded 29th, knows that will be a tricky assignment.
"We practise quite a bit," Korda said. "Usually whenever we practise, he actually wins the tournament. I always give him jokes about that. I'm looking forward to it. It's exciting, the fourth round of a grand slam. I'll be ready to go."
Can Korda win the Australian Open, just like his dad, and keep up the family tradition of outstanding results in the country?
"It's a special place for us," he said. "We've had some really great results. Hopefully I can do one better than the juniors and do it in the pros."
For the first time in 20 years, four or fewer of the top eight seeds in the men's singles will progress to the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Daniil Medvedev's defeat to Sebastian Korda on Friday meant he joined Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz and defending champion Rafael Nadal in heading home early from the season's first grand slam.
According to Opta, it is the first time since 2003 that the round of 16 in Melbourne will include four or fewer of the top eight players in the competition.
Nine-time champion Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, is struggling with injury ahead of his third-round tie with Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday, while world number six and fifth seed Andrey Rublev faces a tough test against Dan Evans.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is sure of his place in round four after the Greek third seed beat Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets. Felix Auger-Aliassime will go up against Jiri Lehecka for a place in the last eight.
Carlos Alcaraz is on course to return to tennis action next month after the world number one stepped up his recovery from injury by practising on clay.
The 19-year-old Spaniard was ruled out of the Australian Open after suffering a hamstring injury in pre-season.
That was another blow for Alcaraz, who cut short an outstanding 2022 season due to an internal oblique muscle tear he sustained during a Paris Masters quarter-final against Holger Rune in November.
Alcaraz won five titles last year – including a maiden grand slam triumph at the US Open – and surged to the top of the ATP rankings.
The teenager delivered an encouraging update on his fitness on Friday, posting pictures of himself in action on a clay court and writing: "Back on court and back on clay. VAMOS!"
Alcaraz is set to make his comeback at the Argentina Open, which start in Buenos Aires on February 13.
He won Masters titles in Madrid and Miami last year, along with triumphs in Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro and at Flushing Meadows.
Kurtley Beale has been stood down by Rugby Australia after he was charged over an alleged sexual assault.
The NSW Waratahs back was arrested by police over reports a 28-year-old woman was assaulted in a Sydney pub on December 17.
Beale, a 95-cap Wallabies veteran, was taken into custody after he was stopped in Kingsford on Friday by authorities.
"Detectives from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command took carriage of the matter and commenced an investigation under Strike Force Titheradge," read a police statement.
"He was taken to Waverley Police Station and charged with two counts of sexually touch another person without consent, incite another to sexually touch them without consent and sexual intercourse without consent.
"The man was refused bail to appear before Parramatta Bail Court tomorrow [on Saturday]."
In a statement of their own, Rugby Australia said Beale has been suspended from all forms of rugby until the conclusion of legal proceedings and its own investigations.
"This step follows Mr Beale’s arrest and subsequent charge with serious criminal offences, and is in line with Rugby Australia’s professional player code of conduct," Rugby Australia added.
"The Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA) has been informed of this development. As this remains a legal matter, there will be no further comment until the conclusion of these proceedings."
Beale made his Wallabies debut in 2009 and has gone on to make close to a century of appearances, including playing in the 2015 Rugby World Cup final.
He was included in a 44-man training squad by former coach Dave Rennie ahead of this year's World Cup, before the latter was replaced by Eddie Jones.
Coco Gauff is excited about the prospect of players from the United States winning both singles titles at the same grand slam again following a bright start to the Australian Open for the men.
The last American to win the men's singles crown at any grand slam was Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
The USA is still way out in front for all-time grand slam men's singles titles with 147, though 19 years and counting is comfortably their worst barren spell during the Open Era.
This comes after 2003 was the 15th year in a row that the USA had at least one champion in the men's majors, with the likes of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi both prolific winners.
Of course, the drought did not extend to the women, with Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and Sofia Kenin all winning at least once since Roddick's success at Flushing Meadows.
But with eight of the last 32 in the men's draw representing the USA, there is a renewed sense of optimism – and that is even accounting for their highest seed, number eight Taylor Fritz, falling in the second round.
Gauff – who beat compatriot Bernarda Pera on Friday – is the USA's next great female hope, and she is looking forward to the day Americans claim a men's and women's double at the same slam.
Asked if there was a refreshing sense of excitement around the men, Gauff said: "Yeah, definitely. I definitely think on the men's side they're thriving.
"It's like eight people in the round of 32 I saw. I think it's incredible. It's just people that you've been rooting for for a long time, and some new faces, too, that people probably haven't been rooting for a long time but fell in love with.
"I'm just excited. On the women's side, we're always like, 'the guys need to catch up, you guys need to put in your work'. I think they're here. I'm hoping that eventually, hopefully soon, we'll have our slam champion on the men's side.
"That would be pretty cool if an American woman and guy could win the same slam. I don't know when the last time that's happened or if it's ever happened. I'll be pretty excited."
Coincidentally, it last happened at Melbourne Park. In 2003, Andre Agassi and Serena Williams were victorious at the Australian Open.
Gauff is not getting carried away, but her perception is there is genuine belief among the men now, which is being fed by unity.
"I definitely think the guys are feeling it," she said. "You can see it. I think it really comes from, not the women, but the same dynamic, where everybody is doing well, so it makes you want to do well.
"We're all not competing with each other but pushing each other. I think that's what the men are having.
"They're competing against each other but also pushing each other to be better. I'm pretty sure all the American guys get along, at least that's what I think."
There were setbacks to American men's title hopes on Friday as Frances Tiafoe and Mackenzie McDonald both lost at the last-32 stage, but there was a hugely notable win too, with Sebastian Korda beating seventh seed, two-time Australian Open runner-up and former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.
Iga Swiatek is growing in confidence by the day after she blew Cristina Bucsa to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The world number one ruthlessly dispatched the Spanish qualifier 6-0 6-1 in just 55 minutes on Margaret Court Arena on Friday.
Swiatek won the French Open for a second time last year before claiming her first US Open title and the 21-year-old is the favourite to be crowned champion at Melbourne Park.
Reflecting on her progress through the draw so far, the Pole believes she is making great strides in her quest for a fourth grand slam triumph.
"I feel I'm more and more confident since day one here," she said. "I feel like I've done so much work to feel more confident, more relaxed on court.
"I'm pretty happy I did it because it's just a little bit easier. Whe you actually play those matches, you can feel the rhythm a little bit more.
"I don't feel like the tournament is going to start now, because first rounds are always challenging.
"I'm trying to treat every match separately. I always try to have the same mindset. I can just say that I feel more confident because I'm played a couple of matches here."
Swiatek will do battle with Elena Rybakina in the fourth round and will ensure she does her homework before facing the Wimbledon champion.
"Tactically, I'm not prepared yet. We played an exhibition in Dubai, [but] it's hard kind of to take a lot from that match," she said.
"I'm pretty sure my coach is going to be ready to give me some tips. We'll see [but] I'm not really thinking about that today."
Tournament director Craig Tiley has no plans to change the Australian Open schedule despite a 4am finish for Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Murray stormed back from two sets down to beat Australian Kokkinakis 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 7-5 early in the early hours of Friday morning on Margaret Court Arena.
The three-time grand slam champion sealed an incredible victory in a second-round thriller that took five hours and 45 minutes to settle.
That was the longest match in Brit Murray's career and the 4.05am finish was the third-latest in the history of the sport.
Murray made his feelings over having to play at that time of day very clear, but Tiley did not see an alternative option.
"You would expect from 7pm to 12pm (the evening session) in that five-hour window, you would get two matches," Tiley said. "We also have to protect the matches. If you just put one match at night and there’s an injury, you don't have anything for fans or broadcasters.
"At this point there is no need to alter the schedule. We always look at it when we do the debrief like we do every year, we've had long matches before, at this point we've got to fit the matches into the 14 days so you don't have many options."
Murray vented his frustration at the chair umpire during the match and stated after his victory that he did not see the logic in playing so late.
"I don't know who it's beneficial for," Murray said. "We come here after the match and that's what the discussion is, rather than it being like, 'epic Murray-Kokkinakis match'. It ends in a bit of a farce.
"Amazingly people stayed until the end, and I really appreciate people doing that and creating an atmosphere for us. Some people obviously need to work the following day and everything.
"But if my child was a ball kid for a tournament and they're coming home at five in the morning, as a parent, I'm snapping at that. It's not beneficial for them. It's not beneficial for the umpires, the officials. I don't think it's amazing for the fans. It's not good for the players.
"We talk about it all the time, and it's been spoken about for years. But when you start the night matches late and have conditions like that, these things are going to happen."
Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers did not hide his frustration with certain elements of his team's play despite beating the Portland Trail Blazers 105-95 on Thursday.
The Sixers made it four wins on the bounce, all of which have been on the road, with Joel Embiid and James Harden playing key roles.
Embiid's 32 points made it the seventh game in a row he has reached at least 30, while Harden posted a triple-double of 16 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
The Sixers looked to be coasting at one stage, finding themselves 26 points to the good, but the Trail Blazers made life a little trickier towards the end.
Rivers' team got the job done as they improved to 29-16 in the East, behind only the Boston Celtic and Milwaukee Bucks, though he was certainly not completely satisfied.
He was particularly irritated by the Sixers' poor handling of the Trail Blazers' trapping, and he was not impressed by how spread out his players were.
Asked how they coped with respect to trapping, Rivers said: "Poorly, but we also took advantage of some of it as well.
"I didn't think trapping was that hard, our spacing was horrendous, and we're great at spacing most nights, but tonight we kept leaving two guys on the other end.
"I'm hoarse from yelling, just getting one to cut through and we basically didn't do it. We got away with three or four more than I thought they could've had. But that's easy to fix."
In letting Portland back into the contest somewhat in the second half, Rivers felt there was a hint of complacency in the Sixers' performance.
As such, he surmised they are still not at a stage where they can consider themselves anything more than a "good" team.
He added: "There's no lesson, the lesson is execute. I just thought we didn't.
"You get leads sometimes and they're hard, NBA leads shrink quickly and then you get complacent, and I think we did a little bit of that.
"But in that, one thing I like is we kept playing defense, and that's a good sign.
"I think we're good, and I think we can be really, really good. But we have work to do.
"We can't expect to come in and just show up and win, we have to go out and do something about it."
Nevertheless, with the likes of Embiid and Harden in their arsenal, the Sixers have the kind of star quality that can drag them through the mud even when they are not at their optimal level as a unit.
That is not lost on Embiid.
"I think from the beginning it was easy," he said of linking up with Harden, who joined from the Brooklyn Nets last February.
"When you've got two guys with high basketball IQs, you can figure it out everything easy.
"So, it's all about just playing off of each other. We've been doing a wonderful job of doing that."
Jacque Vaughn will continue challenging Ben Simmons to answer his responsibilities after another disappointing outing saw him ejected in the Brooklyn Nets' loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Simmons was sent from the game for arguing with referee Eric Lewis having played just 18 minutes, as the Nets continued to struggle in the injury-enforced absence of Kevin Durant in a 117-112 loss – their fourth defeat in a row.
In his previous outing, Simmons had put up his first triple-double for the Nets in Tuesday's defeat to the San Antonio Spurs, but a season of ups-and-downs went on in Phoenix, where he spent most of the game contending with foul trouble.
Averaging just 7.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists this campaign, the Nets need more from a player who has All-Star pedigree.
Vaughn is determined to spark more consistency in Simmons, who arrived last February as part of a blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers.
"We need him to be productive, and that is without the fouls," Vaughn said. "That is helping us rebound the basketball. That is playing with poise and composure. That is pushing the pace for us.
"So unfortunately when you're a really good basketball player, your list is long and so are the responsibilities. And hopefully, we'll continue to ask of those things and challenge him and challenge this group to be able to answer those long lists."
For his part, Simmons felt the decisions given against him lacked consistency.
"I don't want to say nothing because I ain't trying to get another fine," he said.
"I think if you're going to call the game like that, then you've got to be consistent. I think it's been like that all year. If you're going to call a moving back, then you've got to be consistent [on] both ends. Same with the holding."
Team-mate Kyrie Irving remains confident in Simmons' ability to contribute to the Nets' cause but urged him to control his emotions going forward as the season reaches an important stretch towards the playoffs.
"Same thing we've been doing is just give him a ton of confidence," Irving said when asked how the team can help Simmons get going.
"But also knowing that he's mature enough to handle himself. He's a very talented basketball player, and we could name all the superlatives, but we need him in the game and I think he understands that, especially during this stretch we're going to need him in every game.
"I've gotten ejected before only once in my career. Tempers flare, you disagree with the refs, but the big picture is the most important thing, and on this team, I think Ben realises that. But tonight, just his emotions got the best of him."
The latest defeat leaves the Nets fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 27-17 record.
Jaylen Brown likened the intensity in the Boston Celtics' workmanlike overtime 121-118 victory over the Golden State Warriors to a playoff game.
The Warriors had not returned to TD Garden since winning Game 6 of last season's NBA Finals to secure the championship.
Much like in that series, the Celtics were littered with turnovers (17 in total resulted in 24 points for the visitors) and struggled to fire on all cylinders offensively.
This time, though, Boston found a way to win. Trailing by 11 points in the second half, the Celtics fought back and Brown tied the game via a three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining and then, having gained an eight-point advantage, held on after a sloppy ending to overtime.
"That felt like a playoff game," Brown said.
"Their intensity, their force where they came, that's a game I'm sure they wanted to win. We were down, what, five to seven [points] in the fourth quarter, four, five minutes left.
"To be able to have poise to battle back, that shows a lot of growth. We're taking steps in the right direction."
Jayson Tatum had a career-high 19 rebounds to go with 34 points and six assists but was also guilty of a couple of poor turnovers.
He too, though, felt the Celtics showed the sort of requisite desire to win when the team is not particularly playing their best basketball.
"You're going to need games like this," Tatum said.
"There's going to be a handful of playoff games where you don't necessarily shoot the ball well, maybe even on the road – under 40 per cent, 73 per cent from the free-throw line, 17 turnovers – and still find a way to win.
"I think that just shows the depth of our team, that on a below-average night for us, we can still find a way to win. That's all that matters at the end of the night. Did you win or did you lose?"
Interim Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla felt the nature of the victory showed how the team have grown since losing the Finals.
"For us, we've talked about poise and physicality," he said.
"Everybody asks, what did we learn [from losing in the Finals]? What have we learned? And I think what we've learned is it takes a mindset in order to be successful. And it takes a mindset to be a really, really good team in the NBA. And you can't be inconsistent with that.
"I think even though you play really, really well and we win, we're still going to have some of those moments. Yeah, we had some turnovers, we had some kind of plays where it's just kind of like, 'That shouldn't happen'. But that's going to happen.
"It's about just the habits that we're growing as far as our mindset, our poise, our physicality, our ability to execute, our ability to handle the chaos of an NBA game."
The Celtics sit top of the Eastern Conference with a league-best 34-12 record, while the Warriors are ninth and 22-23 in the West.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
