Wales boss Warren Gatland has named five uncapped players in his squad for the Guinness Six Nations Championship.
The squad announcement, though, was overshadowed by Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit being released by Gloucester to pursue his dream of a career in the NFL.
Cardiff quartet Cameron Winnett, Evan Lloyd, Alex Mann and Mackenzie Martin, plus Bath prop Archie Griffin, have all been included among a 34-strong group, with Wales kicking off their campaign against Scotland on February 3.
Exeter’s 21-year-old lock Dafydd Jenkins, meanwhile, has been appointed as captain with World Cup skipper Jac Morgan likely to miss the whole tournament after undergoing knee surgery, and there is a recall for Cardiff flanker James Botham, grandson of cricket great Sir Ian Botham.
Other injury absentees include number eight Taulupe Faletau, hooker Dewi Lake and Exeter forward Christ Tshiunza.
And there are no places for experienced campaigners such as props Tomas Francis and Dillon Lewis.
Wales squad for the Guinness Six Nations Championship:
Backs: G Davies (Scarlets), Tomos Williams (Cardiff), K Hardy (Scarlets), S Costelow (Scarlets), I Lloyd (Scarlets), C Evans (Dragons), N Tompkins (Saracens), O Watkin (Ospreys), G North (Ospreys), M Grady (Cardiff), J Roberts (Scarlets), J Adams (Cardiff), R Dyer (Dragons), C Winnett (Cardiff), T Rogers (Scarlets).
Forwards: G Thomas (Ospreys), C Domachowski (Cardiff), K Mathias (Scarlets), R Elias (Scarlets), E Dee (Dragons), E Lloyd (Cardiff), K Assiratti (Cardiff), A Griffin (Bath), L Brown (Dragons), W Rowlands (Racing 92), A Beard (Ospreys), D Jenkins (Exeter, capt), Teddy Williams (Cardiff), A Wainwright (Dragons), T Reffell (Leicester), A Mann (Cardiff), J Botham (Cardiff), M Martin (Cardiff), T Basham (Dragons).
Gloucester have released Wales and British and Irish Lions wing Louis Rees-Zammit with immediate effect to “pursue his dream” of a career in American Football.
The Gallagher Premiership club made the announcement as Wales head coach Warren Gatland prepared to unveil his squad for the Guinness Six Nations Championship.
Gloucester said: “Gloucester Rugby have agreed to release winger Louis Rees-Zammit with immediate effect to enable the 22-year-old to pursue his dream of playing in the National Football League (NFL).
“The Welsh international has accepted an invitation to join the NFL International Player Pathway (IPP) which provides elite athletes from around the world with an opportunity to earn a place on an NFL roster.
Emma Raducanu felt the love on her grand-slam return as she eased to victory over Shelby Rogers in the first round of the Australian Open.
Playing her first major tournament since a second-round exit to Coco Gauff here last year following surgery on both wrists and one ankle, the 21-year-old produced an assured performance to beat the American 6-3 6-2.
A packed arena showed how much interest there is in Raducanu’s comeback, and this was the sort of routine win she will hope to achieve regularly throughout the season.
Raducanu was cheered loudly throughout and, after clenching her fist and waving to all sides of the arena, she gave her towel to a fan she recognised who had supported her in New York.
“Going out there today I think I was a little bit taken aback by just the support straight when I walked out,” she said.
“I think it was better than any year I’ve really had before here. It was just amazing to see all the signs, hear the support. It was pretty incredible. So I was very happy to be able to play in those sort of circumstances again.
“I gave the towel to Mark. He was actually there every round at US Open. I didn’t know he was here. I just saw him in the crowd. He’s very vocal. It was actually great to have him there to get me through. He’s very passionate and enthusiastic. It was his birthday.”
Raducanu has spoken a lot over the past couple of weeks about seeing this comeback as a reset following her US Open triumph and the hoopla that followed.
It was somewhat ironic, therefore, that the draw pitted her against one of the players she beat during that incredible New York fortnight.
Rogers had knocked out Ashleigh Barty in the third round but was swatted aside by Raducanu, the British player dropping just three games.
Rogers has taken her own break from the sport having not played a match since Wimbledon because of knee surgery and an abdominal problem before she got married last month.
Ranked down at 161 as a consequence, this was one of the kinder openers Raducanu could have had, and Rogers clearly looked rusty.
Raducanu settled well, though, balancing the aggressive game she is determined to stick to with a need for consistency and she did not face a break point throughout the contest.
Raducanu moved well, served strongly and showed good touch at the net and on a couple of drop shots, while she saw the funny side of a delay to one service game in the second set while a ball girl tried to capture a bug that had landed on the court.
She is yet to reach the third round in Melbourne but looks to have a good chance ahead of a second-round clash with China’s Wang Yafan on Thursday.
Whether or not Raducanu can find a way through that one, she is simply enjoying being able to play pain free.
“I honestly didn’t know if I’d ever get to this stage,” she said. “I had pain for so long. I was playing since before the US swing in 2022 all the way before surgery.
“I think this year and now there’s just a lot more calm. I think I’m more level-headed. I think things around me have settled. I do feel better, and there’s just less highs and lows around. It’s just more of an equilibrium.
“I think what I realised is the difference between me potentially losing first round or doing really well at a tournament is honestly really, really slim. It’s just in the way that I move, in the way that I do things physically.
“I think just not being so drastic, because I know it’s not far away at all, and I know, the more I practise consistently, it will come.”
John Quinn is eyeing further top-level success with Highfield Princess after confirming his superstar sprinting mare will stay in training this year.
The seven-year-old memorably completed a Group One hat-trick in 2022 with wins in the Prix Maurice de Gheest, Nunthorpe and Flying Five Stakes before rounding off her campaign with a fourth-placed finish at the Breeders’ Cup.
Owner John Fairley sportingly elected to bring his pride and joy back for another season last year and was duly rewarded, as Highfield Princess was placed twice at Royal Ascot and blitzed her rivals at Goodwood before bagging a fourth Group One success in the Prix de l’Abbaye at ParisLongchamp.
She could only finish sixth on her most recent outing in Hong Kong, but while connections could quite easily have retired the daughter of Night Of Thunder for breeding purposes in 2024, Quinn is delighted to report her racing career will continue.
“Highfield Princess is going to stay in training this year and I’m delighted,” he told the PA news agency on Tuesday morning.
“She retained her enthusiasm all year (last year) and keeps doing it. She won another Group One, was placed in three Group Ones and won a Group Two, so it’s not as if she had one outstanding run and four or five runs below par.
“She had one disappointing run in the Curragh when she slipped, apart from that she was second in the Duke of York, placed twice at Royal Ascot, fantastic at Glorious Goodwood, second in the Nunthorpe and put up a tremendous performance in the Abbaye.
“She ran creditably in Hong Kong from a wide draw and the owners have decided they’d like to race her again this year, which is great.”
While Highfield Princess is currently enjoying a well-earned break, Quinn has already started to formulate plans for her comeback.
He added: “She’s having a break now and will be back in (training) on February 1.
“I think she’ll kick off in the Duke of York again. It might be cold and snowy this morning, but it will soon come round, and then we’ll aim for Royal Ascot.”
Jack Draper blamed stress for the physical struggles that led to him vomiting in a courtside bin at the end of his five-set win over Marcos Giron.
It is a measure of how inexperienced the 22-year-old still is at the highest level that he had never previously played a match that went the distance, and he looked in serious trouble at two sets to one down against American Giron in 31 degree heat at the Australian Open.
But Draper has been working hard on his physical conditioning and it paid off as he fought back to win 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-0 6-2 after three hours and 20 minutes.
As soon as he had shaken hands with Giron after a final gruelling rally he ran to the bin to be sick and it was several minutes before he was able to walk off the court.
“It was weird,” he said. “I obviously played such a long point, maybe it was sort of a reaction to finally getting over the line. I don’t know. I kind of felt bad because I obviously just beat the guy, and I was saying, ‘I need to shake your hand, mate, but I need to get to that bin’.”
Draper was left with mixed feelings, saying of his physical conditioning: “I’m obviously nowhere near where I want to be still, but it’s coming. For sure I would have cramped in these matches last year, even maybe four months ago.
“It was obviously a physical match. It’s tough conditions. It wasn’t that long for a five-set match. I played three hours 40 (minutes) last week in hotter conditions and I was physically absolutely fine.
“It’s obviously a grand slam. It’s tougher sort of with the tension to play that first match. I think I’m still a young player, so getting used to the environment around these slams and the tension is difficult.
“There’s no doubting I’m really proud to come through this match and I think it is really important for me.
“But there’s still some underlying stuff that obviously I need to work on, whether that be psychologically starting these slams or just the way I’m handling the anxiety and the nerves because I obviously don’t want to play a match like that where I feel like I’m on my hands and knees a lot, and I’m struggling to breathe and calm myself down. That’s not a positive.”
The match was dominated by punishing rallies from the start and, after edging the first set, it became clear in the second that Draper was struggling.
He called the trainer at the end of the set and had his blood pressure and pulse taken, and Giron looked odds on to win when he clinched the third.
Draper headed off court at that point to change his clothes and revealed in his press conference later that a talk in the mirror helped him achieve the dramatic turnaround that followed.
“I’ve heard (Novak) Djokovic say it a few times in his career,” said Draper. “He has gone two sets to love down and he has a go at himself. I think it’s important to not dwell on it.
“I kind of just looked at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Come on, we need to try and do this. I know it’s going to be two sets now, and give it your all. It’s the Australian Open. Only going to be here once this year’.”
Draper will hope to have enough time to recover ahead of his second-round clash with Tommy Paul – who he beat last week on his way to the final of the Adelaide International – on Thursday.
There were more straightforward wins for Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter on a very good day for the British contingent.
Norrie dispelled concerns over the wrist problem that forced him out of last week’s tournament in Auckland with a routine 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory over Juan Pablo Varillas, while Boulter defeated Yuan Yue 7-5 7-6 (1).
The British number one missed two match points serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, one with a double fault and the other an unforced error, but put the setback behind her to dominate the tie-break.
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“It wasn’t easy at all,” said Boulter. “I felt like that was my moment to really dig in, take a deep breath and start again. It took a lot of strength to come back from that.
“I feel like I relish that situation because I know how tough I am and I know that I can get myself out of it.
“I managed to bring some of the better tennis that I played of the day out in the biggest moment. I think, if I’ve learned anything over these years, that’s what the best players in the world do.”
Charlie Deutsch feels Royale Pagaille will need to produce a performance akin to his Betfair Chase success if he is to win the Sky Bet Peter Marsh Chase for a third time on Saturday – should Haydock beat the freeze.
The Venetia Williams-trained 10-year-old came up with a career-best display last time out when winning at the highest level for the first time, beating Bravemansgame in the process.
That was his fourth win at Haydock, and he was also second in the 2021 Betfair Chase, so his love for the course is evident, but Deutsch is well aware that off a mark of 166, he will be giving lumps of weight away.
“I’ve not sat on him since the last day I rode him, but every day from what I see on the gallops he looks good and well. I’m looking forward to getting back on board him again,” said the jockey.
“You would have to be optimistic about his chances if the meeting is on, as we know he likes the track and hopefully he is in the same form as he was in the Betfair Chase.
“This will still be a test and take a bit of winning, so he needs to be in good form, as he is going to be giving a lot of weight away.
“I’d be very surprised at his age if he gets better again but, although it is easy to say now he has won his Grade One, on Betfair Chase Day he definitely felt at his best.
“It would be great if he could win this for a third time, and it would be a similar performance to his one in the Betfair Chase, as it takes a very good horse to carry that sort of weight to victory.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s comments in an explosive verbal assault on Ali Carter will be reviewed by the World Snooker Tour.
O’Sullivan described Carter as “a f****** nightmare” and claimed he needs to “see a counsellor” after beating his bitter rival in Sunday’s Masters final.
The 48-year-old was hitting back at Carter, who claimed the world number one had “snotted on the floor” during their match at Alexandra Palace, which O’Sullivan won 10-7.
The WST told the PA news agency that O’Sullivan’s outburst “was under review” and refused to comment further.
O’Sullivan told several newspapers: “He needs to sort his f*****g life out. I’m not going to skirt around it any more, tip-toeing on eggshells around someone like that. He’s a f*****g nightmare.
“Playing snooker against someone like that is a nightmare. He’s not a nice person. It’s not a nice vibe he leaves around the table.
“I’ve said my piece, I don’t give a s**t. I’ve said it now, done. You know what he’s like, everybody knows what he’s like.
“He’s got issues. F*****g why has he got issues with me? I’m not having it.”
O’Sullivan added: “He’s got beef with me. He’s got issues, he’s got to sort his life out, he’s got to see a counsellor or something. He’s got to sort it out because I haven’t spoken to him for 20 years.”
The pair’s long-running heated rivalry boiled over during their 2018 World Championship match at the Crucible when O’Sullivan barged into Carter at the table.
At Alexandra Palace on Sunday, Carter had a heated exchange with someone in the crowd, who had called out when he was about to take a shot.
Carter, 44, said: “There were a couple of things that happened out there that go unnoticed. Well, they don’t go unnoticed – anyone with an eyesight or a brain can see what’s going on.
“It’s disgusting, quite frankly. No-one wants to say anything, do they? (O’Sullivan) snotting all over the floor and all that.
“I mean it’s outrageous behaviour from a top professional. If it gets swept under the carpet then for me, it’s not good.”
O’Sullivan is currently involved in a disciplinary dispute with the game’s governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, over comments he made about unsanctioned exhibition matches.
It is expected the Carter matter will be referred to the WPBSA.
Emma Raducanu made a convincing grand-slam return with victory over Shelby Rogers in the first round of the Australian Open.
Playing her first major tournament since a second-round exit to Coco Gauff here last year following surgery on both wrists and one ankle, the 21-year-old produced an assured performance to beat the American 6-3 6-2.
A packed arena showed how much interest there is in Raducanu’s comeback, and this was the sort of routine win she will hope to achieve regularly throughout the season.
She is yet to reach the third round in Melbourne but looks to have a good chance ahead of a second-round clash with China’s Wang Yafan on Thursday.
Raducanu has spoken a lot over the past couple of weeks about seeing this comeback as a reset following her US Open triumph and the hoopla that followed.
It was somewhat ironic, therefore, that the draw pitted her against one of the players she beat during that incredible New York fortnight.
Rogers had knocked out Ashleigh Barty in the third round but was swatted aside by Raducanu, the British player dropping just three games.
Rogers has taken her own break from the sport having not played a match since Wimbledon because of knee surgery and an abdominal problem before she got married last month.
Ranked down at 161 as a consequence, this was one of the kinder openers Raducanu could have had, and Rogers clearly looked rusty during the opening set.
Raducanu settled well, though, balancing the aggressive game she is determined to stick to with a need for consistency and she did not face a break point throughout the contest.
Raducanu moved well, served strongly and showed good touch at the net and on a couple of drop shots.
Having broken Rogers’ serve in the fourth game, she did so again to open the second set before consolidating her advantage despite a brief disruption while a ball girl tried to escort a bug from the court.
Another break followed and Raducanu confidently served out the match to love before clenching her fist and waving to all sides of the court.
The British and Irish Lions will send a women’s team to New Zealand for a historic three-Test series in September 2027.
The inaugural women’s Lions tour will feature three clashes against the current world champions.
A Lions statement on Tuesday morning confirmed the tour will not overlap with that year’s men’s World Cup and will include warm-up fixtures, but said the full schedule had not yet been finalised.
British and Irish Lions chief executive Ben Calveley said: “Playing three Test matches against the current world champions, the Black Ferns in New Zealand, in front of thousands of fans represents the ultimate challenge and makes for a fantastic sporting spectacle.
“We look forward to working with all our stakeholders including New Zealand Rugby to finalise an exciting inaugural tour.”
There will be no National Hunt racing in Britain on Tuesday after scheduled fixtures at both Chepstow and Plumpton were abandoned due to frozen ground.
An 8am inspection was called ahead of racing at Chepstow, but with temperatures dipping just below minus 6C overnight officials were able to make an early call.
It was a similar story at Plumpton, where frost sheets deployed across the whole courses were not enough to save the day.
An inspection was scheduled for 8.30am, but the decision was made at around 6am to draw stumps, with temperatures in Sussex also getting down to minus 6C.
Thursday’s jumps meeting at Newcastle has already been called off following a Tuesday morning inspection, while Fairyhouse’s card on the same day is subject to a noon inspection on Wednesday, with the course declared unfit for racing on Tuesday morning.
Brendan Sheridan, IHRB Clerk of the Course, said: “Ahead of declarations this morning for racing on Thursday, the track is currently unfit for racing due to overnight frost.
“Parts of the track are frozen following two nights of low temperatures, with last night getting down to at least minus 3C.
“We don’t have the most favourable forecast with temperatures only rising to a high of 2C for a couple of hours today before dropping again tonight back to minus 3C.
“In light of that forecast and due to the current ground conditions, we will have a 12pm inspection on Wednesday to assess the prospects of racing here at Fairyhouse on Thursday.”
Katie Boulter defeated Yuan Yue for her first Australian Open victory in five years.
The British number one has lost in qualifying in Melbourne the previous two years but made rapid strides up the rankings in 2023 and was impressive in a 7-5 7-6 (1) victory over in-form Yuan.
The only missed step from Boulter, who has been subject of a lot of attention as the girlfriend of Australia’s big hope Alex De Minaur, was two match points that went begging on her own serve at 5-4 in the second set.
But she regrouped well and dominated the tie-break for just her second main-draw victory at Melbourne Park.
It was a tight contest throughout but Boulter showed once again that she is a player for the big occasion, coming out on top in nearly all the key moments.
A break for 6-5 in the opening set gave her the chance to serve it out, which she took in hot, breezy conditions.
Yuan, ranked seven places lower than Boulter at 61 in the world, reached the semi-finals of the WTA Tour event in Hobart last week, while her opponent also came into the tournament high on confidence after the best win of her career over Jessica Pegula at the United Cup.
There was nothing to separate the pair in the second set until Boulter, who had been under more pressure on her serve, broke to lead 5-4.
But her composure wavered at the wrong time, the 27-year-old serving a double fault on her first match point and then making a backhand error on the second as Yuan pulled back level.
She did not dwell on the missed opportunities, though, winning the first five points of the tie-break and taking her third match point to join fellow Britons Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper in the second round.
Jack Draper vomited into a courtside bin after overcoming struggles with the Melbourne heat to defeat Marcos Giron at the Australian Open in his first ever five-set match.
It is a measure of how inexperienced the 22-year-old still is at the highest level that he had never previously played a match that went the distance, and he looked in serious trouble at two sets to one down against American Giron.
But Draper has been working hard on his physical conditioning and it paid off as he fought back to win 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-0 6-2 after three hours and 20 minutes.
As soon as he had shaken hands with Giron after a final gruelling rally he ran to the bin to be sick, and it was several minutes before he was able to walk off the court.
He will now have to try to recover for a second-round match, against 14th seed Tommy Paul, on Thursday, when temperatures are at least forecast to be much lower.
It was early afternoon when Draper and Giron took to a baking Court Eight under a cloudless sky.
The British number four only arrived in Melbourne on Saturday night after reaching his second ATP Tour final in Adelaide, meaning he was full of confidence but also potentially jaded.
The match was dominated by punishing rallies from the start, with Draper getting the better of five straight breaks of serve and narrowly hanging on to his advantage.
But the momentum began to swing Giron’s way in the second set as the physicality of the match took its toll on Draper.
After Giron levelled the match, the 22-year-old called the trainer to have his pulse taken and blood pressure checked.
He carried on but was unable to chase down the sort of shots he had got to in the first set and his race looked run when Giron opened up a two sets to one lead.
He took another off-court break to change his clothes and came out for the fourth set with a game plan to up the aggression and shorten the points.
It worked superbly, a mixture of thumping groundstokes and feathered drop shots taking California’s Giron, who had appeared untroubled by the heat, out of his comfort zone.
Draper raced through the set, putting him into uncharted territory, but, with shade finally creeping across the court, both his game and his body just about held up to carry him through to his first victory at Melbourne Park.
The Memphis Grizzlies got career-best scoring performances from Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson to overcome a slew of injured players and spoil Draymond Green's return to the Golden State Warriors' lineup in Monday's 116-107 win.
Williams amassed 24 points and seven rebounds and Jackson contributed 23 points off the bench on a night Memphis was without three of its top four scorers for the season in Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart.
Both players recorded eight fourth-quarter points as the Grizzlies pulled away late to halt a two-game losing streak and hand the reeling Warriors an eighth loss in 11 games.
Green had seven points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes in his first appearance in just over a month. The former NBA Defensive Player of the Year had just completed serving an indefinite NBA suspension for striking Phoenix Suns centre Jusuf Nurkic in the face on Dec. 12.
The Warriors owned a 91-90 lead following Stephen Curry's go-ahead 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, but Memphis responded with a 16-5 run to break the game open.
Jackson, who finished 5 of 8 from 3-point range, had two triples during the surge, which Luke Kennard capped with a 3-pointer to give the Grizzlies a 106-96 advantage with 7:20 left.
Golden State never got closer than seven points behind the rest of the way.
Curry led the Warriors with 26 points and Jonathan Kuminga delivered 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
Mavericks down rival Pelicans behind big games from Irving, Hardaway
Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. each eclipsed the 40-point mark while rallying the Dallas Mavericks to a 125-120 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, a win that created a two-way tie atop the Southwest Division between the teams.
The Mavericks overcame a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter and another absence from superstar Luka Dončić to avenge Saturday’s 118-110 home loss to the Pelicans.
Irving and Hardaway more than made up for Doncic missing a third straight game with a sprained ankle. Irving scored 24 of his 42 points in the second half, while Hardaway had 11 of his season-high 41 points during a fourth quarter in which Dallas outscored New Orleans by a 33-21 margin.
The Pelicans held a 111-104 lead with seven minutes left before Dallas took control with a 17-4 run. Hardaway hit back-to-back 3-pointers during the pivotal spurt, the second of which gave the Mavericks a 112-111 edge with 4:16 remaining.
Jalen Green’s 3-pointer with 1:27 left to play extended Dallas’ advantage to 121-115, though New Orleans answered with five straight points to cut its deficit to one with 17.7 seconds remaining.
Irving then hit two free throws on the ensuing possession, and after the Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram missed a potential game-tying 3-point attempt, Maxi Kleber made two foul shots to seal the win and pull Dallas even with New Orleans in the standings.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 30 points and CJ McCollum had 23 in the loss, though Ingram went just 3 of 14 from the field while finishing with 12 points.
Jazz extend winning streak with rout of Pacers
Lauri Markkanen put up 32 points and 10 rebounds as the resurgent Utah Jazz continued their recent winning ways with a 132-105 rout of the short-handed Indiana Pacers.
The Jazz cruised to their sixth consecutive victory behind the hot shooting of Markkanen and Collin Sexton, who went 11 of 17 from the field while scoring a season-high 30 points to go along with five assists. Markkanen made 10 of 15 field goal attempts and was a perfect 10 for 10 from the foul line.
After getting off to a 7-16 start, Utah has won 15 of its last 19 games to move up to ninth place in the Western Conference.
The Pacers lost their second in a row while playing a fourth straight game without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, out with a hamstring injury. Indiana was also without two other key contributors in guard Bruce Brown and 3-point specialist Aaron Nesmith due to injuries.
Indiana's depleted lineup proved to be no match, as the Jazz took a 33-26 lead after one quarter and increased it to 64-50 at half-time behind 17 points from Sexton and 15 from Markkanen.
Utah maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way, with its lead swelling to 29 points in the final stages.
Buddy Hield and Andrew Nembhard each had 14 points to lead Indiana.
Iga Swiatek won the battle of the grand slam champions against Sofia Kenin to reach the second round of the Australian Open.
Kenin lifted her first major title here in 2020 before losing to Swiatek in the French Open final the same year but has struggled since with injuries and a loss of form.
The American remains a dangerous player, though, and knocked Coco Gauff out in the first round of Wimbledon last year.
She served for the opening set before Swiatek fought back to take it in a
tie-break, and the Pole was the steadier in the second to claim a 7-6 (2) 6-2
victory.
“For sure, it wasn’t the easiest first round,” said the world number one. “She played really well. I tried to find my rhythm, especially in the first set. I’m happy at the end of the set I could win the most important points.
“I’m happy that I am through and I could play a little bit better in the second set.”
Remarkably, Swiatek was the only player in her initial section of the draw not to have made an Australian Open final.
Next she will take on another American in Danielle Collins, who ended Swiatek’s best run in Melbourne so far by beating her in the semi-finals two years ago before losing to Ashleigh Barty.
That is Collins’ only victory in five meetings with Swiatek, who won their most recent match 6-1 6-0 in Cincinnati last summer.
“I can’t say that I have an easy draw here,” said Swiatek. “I’ll try to do my best. Danielle is a really good player. We played really tight matches. On the other hand, our last match, from the score, I had it under control.
“Every match is different. I’m not going to anticipate anything. I’m just going to be ready and we’ll see.”
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Collins was a 6-2 3-6 6-1 winner over former Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion Angelique Kerber.
The German is part of a quartet of mothers making their Melbourne returns along with Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina having given birth to daughter Liana last February.
“It is for sure different to be back like this,” said the 35-year-old. “I think I’m open more than before, and also the other players are. I’m also more relaxed so I feel that they appreciate it and I think it’s nice to see so many moms are back on tour.
“It is a long way to be back and to play on a high level again. But, on the other side, I have the experience, I know how it is. I played so many grand slams over the years. So I’m more trying to find my rhythm, to being on court and feeling good again.”
There were also victories for two other former grand slam winners, with 18th seed Victoria Azarenka beating Camila Giorgi 6-1 4-6 6-3 and Sloane Stephens seeing off Olivia Gadecki 6-3 6-1.
Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of second place on the NHL's all-time wins list for a goaltender by posting a 21-save shutout and leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Monday.
Fleury broke a tie with Hall of Famer Patrick Roy with his 552nd career victory, and did so in style with his 74th career shutout and the 39-year-old's first this season.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored both short-handed and on a power play to help Fleury achieve the feat and end a four-game losing streak for Minnesota. Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Foligno contributed a goal and an assist each.
The Wild took control early by forcing an Islanders' penalty just over a minute in, and Zuccarello scored on the resulting power play for a quick 1-0 lead.
Connor Dewar scored off a New York turnover 2:18 into the second to extend Minnesota's advantage, and Eriksson Ek got his first of the night with the Wild on a 5-on-4 later in the period to increase the margin to 3-0.
Eriksson's short-handed goal came with 3:51 remaining and Foligno completed the rout by tipping in a pass from Frederick Gaudreau in the final minute.
Fleury needed to make just three saves during the Wild's dominant second period before recording eight more in the third to finish off his historic shutout.
The Islanders were dealt a fourth loss in five games and pulled star goaltender Ilya Sorokin following the second intermission after he allowed three goals on 32 shots.
Crosby, Jarry star as Penguins end Kraken's nine-game winning streak
Sidney Crosby scored two goals to support a 22-save shutout from Tristan Jarry as the Pittsburgh Penguins stopped the Seattle Kraken’s franchise-record nine-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory.
Drew O’Connor added a goal and Rickard Rakell finished with two assists to help Pittsburgh bounce back from overtime defeats in its previous two games and hand the Kraken their first loss since Dec. 18.
Seattle also had a 13-game point streak (11-0-2) halted despite a solid effort from goaltender Joey Daccord, who turned aside 30 of 32 shots.
Daccord made 12 saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless, but the Penguins broke through just 49 seconds into the second when O’Connor converted a backhand feed from Bryan Rust.
Crosby made it a 2-0 lead just 2:43 later before capping his two-goal day with an empty-net strike with 2:21 left to play.
Jarry’s shutout was his fifth of the season, tied with the Arizona Coyotes’ Connor Ingram for tops in the NHL.
Kings snap eight-game skid behind big third period
Trevor Moore had two goals and the Los Angeles Kings scored four times in the third period to come through with a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes and end an eight-game losing streak.
Moore, Phillip Danault, Alex Laferriere and Pierre Luc-Dubois all had goals in the final 19 minutes to send the Kings to their first victory of 2024. Los Angeles had gone 0-4-4 since its most recent victory on Dec. 27.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, had gone 7-0-1 over their previous eight games.
Danault added two assists and David Rittich recorded 30 saves for the Kings, who struck three times in the first 5:20 of the third to break a 1-1 deadlock after two periods.
Danault put Los Angeles ahead by knocking in the carom of teammate Vladislav Garikov’s off-target shot 61 seconds into the third. Laferriere sent a wrist shot past Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta just 1:20 later to extend the lead, and Dubois’ one-timer with 14:40 remaining increased the margin to 4-1.
The Hurricanes got closer on Jack Drury’s goal with 11:02 left to play, but failed to close the gap further before Moore put the game away with a short-handed empty-net tally with 1:16 remaining.
Moore scored the game’s lone goal of the first period before Jordan Martinook answered for Carolina 5:38 into the second to extend his goal streak to three games.
Raanta stopped just 20 of 24 shots before being pulled after allowing Dubois’ goal.
Cameron Norrie dispelled injury worries to ease into the second round of the Australian Open.
The British number one pulled out of the ASB Classic in Auckland, the city where he grew up, last week ahead of his quarter-final because of a left wrist problem.
Norrie admitted he was concerned with so little time to recover but there were no causes for alarm in a 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory over Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas as he became the first British winner of the fortnight.
It was a kind draw for Norrie, although 81st-ranked Varillas did push Alexander Zverev to five sets in the first round here last year before going on to make the fourth round of the French Open.
Norrie looked a little tentative to start with but settled into a rhythm of lengthy baseline rallies and finally took his sixth opportunity to break serve in the fifth game.
The 19th seed took full control of the contest in the second set, finding more penetration on his groundstrokes and opening up a 5-1 lead.
Varillas fought back with three games in a row but Norrie served it out at the second time of asking and was untroubled in the third.
Josh Allen’s three touchdown passes and a 57-yard running touchdown of his own led the Buffalo Bills to a 31-17 playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 27-year-old quarterback threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter to tight end Dawson Knox to give the Bills an early 14-0 lead.
He then produced a scintillating run through the midfield to the end zone to make it a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and make the game seemingly out of reach for Pittsburgh.
A touchdown before half-time and another in the fourth quarter gave Pittsburgh some hope, but the dagger came in the fourth quarter when Allen found Khalil Shakir and he dodged several would-be tackles to make it a two-touchdown game with six minutes left.
The win for the Bills sets up a mouth-watering match against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional round in Buffalo. The number one seed Baltimore Ravens will host the Houston Texans in the other AFC clash.
Finn Russell insisted he had been revitalised by his move to Bath as he plots Scotland’s attacking strategy for the Six Nations with Gregor Townsend.
Russell helped Bath qualify for the knockout phase of the Investec Champions Cup by directing a 29-25 victory over Top 14 leaders Racing 92 on Sunday, their third win in as many group matches.
The 31-year-old Scot left the Parisians for the Recreation Ground over the summer and the change of scenery has been an unqualified success, with his new club enjoying a revival in the Gallagher Premiership and Europe.
He hopes to enter the Six Nations with the same brio and has been in frequent contact with Scotland head coach Townsend ahead of the opener against Wales on February 3.
“Coming and changing teams with Bath has given me, not a new lease of life, but it has energised me,” Russell said.
“It has been a new challenge and I’ve worked with new players in a slightly different structure and with a new gameplan, which has been good fun.
“I have grown again since I have been here. It is good for me as a 10, the more experience I get, the better.
“I have spoken to Gregor quite a lot. He texted me on Saturday and every week we have been chatting.
“I have got a call with him on Monday to chat about a few options with the attack through the Six Nations.”
While the move to Bath has put a spring in Russell’s step and provided the Premiership with a new poster boy, it also helped the fly-half come to terms with Scotland’s recent group exit from the World Cup.
“Physically I was all right. I played three games out of four at the World Cup but every game I had a week off after so physically I was fine,” he said.
“It was more disappointment. I wanted to get straight back in here so I almost didn’t have time to dwell on what had happened.
“I took a week off, three or four weeks after I came back in, got away and had a proper holiday and switched off a bit, but coming back in here and getting something fresh has been really good to get over it.
“Potentially, if I had stayed at Racing I would have gone back there and it would have been the same again and dwelling on the World Cup.
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“Coming into a new team with new coaches and a new environment and starting from scratch helped me get over that World Cup.”
Russell’s immediate assignment is Bath’s trip to Toulouse on Sunday with the winners finishing top of Pool 2 and guaranteed home advantage in the round of 16.
“Toulouse will be really tough but we are going there to try and win that game. They have got 40 points every game so it’s going to be a challenge, but we have got the confidence and belief to go and do that,” Russell added.
Anthony Joshua expects an “explosive” encounter when he takes on Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on March 8.
The Briton will go head to head with the MMA star following his impressive fifth-round stoppage of Sweden’s Otto Wallin in December.
Ex-UFC fighter Ngannou, who is now contracted to the Professional Fighters League, made his professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury in October and only narrowly missed out on an unlikely victory, dropping the WBC heavyweight champion in the third round.
“He brings two arms, a body, but his mind is different to everyone else. In terms of his frame and make-up I’ve seen people like him many times before,” Joshua said at a press conference on Monday evening to announce the ‘Knockout Chaos’ show in Riyadh.
On his thoughts when the Ngannou fight was offered, Joshua added: “No problem. Every fight leads to somewhere, so this fight is my everything and we will see where it leads me.
“My main focus is Ngannou and getting through an intense training camp.
“I have got to take his mind and his spirit, it will be explosive. We can both trade and it will be a good fight.”
Joshua won all three of his fights in 2023 as he bids to return to the top of the heavyweight division, but Ngannou is determined to derail that ambition.
Ngannou said: “I’m going to come as an underdog to win the fight. I will get this done, I’m just a beginner.
“I will come out better and that’s how I see things. I prepared for a hard fight. The Fury fight is in the past and I will take this more serious than before because there’s more on the line, the undisputed.
“I will do something nobody has done before and I have the tools to do that. It will not be an easy fight, but a possible one (to win).”
The Joshua-Ngannou fight will take place three weeks after Fury fights Oleksandr Usyk in the same city for the undisputed world heavyweight title.
Promoter Frank Warren said: “This is what boxing fans have been crying out for for years. We are in the golden age of boxing.
“Francis brought something to the ring that I never expected. He can be a handful on the inside, he put Tyson through his toughest fight for a long time.
“I take my hat off to AJ (Joshua) for taking this fight. I think he’s in a tough fight and it will be knockout chaos.”
Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn added: “If you can imagine the winner of this fight against the winner of Fury v Usyk, it’s been a long dream of Anthony and his team to be undisputed.”
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