BRISBANE, Australia: Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka launched their Australian Open preparations with straight-sets wins on Tuesday at the Brisbane International but Nick Kyrgios lost on his return from injury.
Former world number one Djokovic, who is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam crown in January in Melbourne, eased to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over wildcard Rinky Hijikata.
The 37-year-old Serb broke Hijikata once in the first set and twice in the second for a comfortable 74-minute win.
Djokovic, now ranked seven in the world, was all business against the young Australian and always looked in control as he set up a second-round clash against fellow veteran Gael Monfils.
“To start the new season with a win is obviously very important,” said Djokovic, who is pursuing an unprecedented 11th Australian Open title.
“But Hijikata was really good tonight and he made me work for it.”
Australian firebrand Kyrgios lost in three tight sets in his first singles match since June 2023.
Kyrgios went down 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3) to Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in almost two and a half hours as serve dominated.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios, 29, is making his comeback following wrist reconstruction and other injuries over the past couple of years.
Ahead of the Australian Open starting on January 12, big-serving Mpetshi Perricard said Kyrgios had shown enough to suggest that his comeback would be a success.
Kyrgios played and won in the doubles with Djokovic on Monday.
“Playing Nick here wasn’t a good match-up for me,” the 21-year-old Mpetshi Perricard said, asked about playing Kyrgios in front of his home crowd.
“He did some good things, he played with confidence.”
The Frenchman, who has risen from 205 in the world at the start of 2024 to his current ranking of 31, fired down 36 aces.
Women’s world number one Sabalenka kickstarted her bid to win the Australian Open for a third consecutive time with a straight-forward win after a sluggish start.
The Belarusian appeared bothered by the high humidity on Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, particularly during an error-strewn first set against Renata Zarazua.
But after breaking Mexico’s Zarazua at 5-4, the 26-year-old surged through the second set to wrap up the match 6-4, 6-0 in 65 minutes.
“The first match is always a tricky one,” Sabalenka said.
“It was a tricky start for me but I’m glad that I closed it out in the first set, and in the second set I felt like whatever I tried to do it would work for me.
“So I’m really happy for the first win of the season.”
Sabalenka is bidding to be the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997-99 to win three Australian Opens in succession.
She will play Yulia Putintseva next after the Kazakh’s 6-2, 7-5 win over American Mccartney Kessler.
Djokovic, Sabalenka win season-openers but Kyrgios loses on return
https://arab.news/4dgrx
Djokovic, Sabalenka win season-openers but Kyrgios loses on return
- Former world number one Novak Djokovic is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam crown in January in Melbourne
- Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios loses in three tight sets in his first singles match since June 2023
Hosts Morocco cruise, South Africa advance into Cup of Nations last 16
- Olympiakos striker El Kaabi nodded in an early opener and scored an overhead kick shortly after halftime, with both of his goals set up by the outstanding Azzedine Ounahi
- Mali go through in second place after a 0-0 draw with Comoros in Casablanca
- Egypt, who rested stars like captain Salah with first place already assured, topped Group B with seven points after their draw against Angola in Agadir
RABAT: Ayoub El Kaabi’s brace helped Morocco to a 3-0 win over Zambia on Monday as the Africa Cup of Nations hosts cruised into the last 16 while South Africa beat Zimbabwe 3-2 to also secure a berth in the knockout phase.
African player of the year Achraf Hakimi made his comeback from almost two months out injured for Morocco as Mali also qualified for the next round and Mohamed Salah was rested for Egypt’s 0-0 draw against Angola.
Morocco are the tournament favorites as the host nation and Africa’s top-ranked team but they were booed off by supporters following a 1-1 draw against Mali in their last outing.
Nevertheless, Walid Regragui’s team knew a win against Zambia at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in capital Rabat would guarantee their progress to the next round in first place in Group A and they outclassed their opponents.
Olympiakos striker El Kaabi nodded in an early opener and scored an overhead kick shortly after halftime, with both of his goals set up by the outstanding Azzedine Ounahi.
In between, Real Madrid attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz swept home Morocco’s second goal on 27 minutes at the end of a fine team move, again involving Ounahi.
Diaz has found the net in all three of Morocco’s games so far and he and El Kaabi join Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez on three goals at the top of the Cup of Nations scoring charts.
Captain Hakimi came off the bench in the 64th minute for his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in action for Paris Saint-Germain at the beginning of November.
Morocco will stay in Rabat for a last-16 tie in the same stadium on Sunday against one of the best third-place finishers.
“Scoring early on changes everything,” said Regragui. “We need to continue like this but not get carried away and keep our feet on the ground.”
Zambia go out and have now failed to win any of their 12 AFCON matches across four tournament appearances since lifting the trophy in 2012.
Mali go through in second place after a 0-0 draw with Comoros in Casablanca, a game they ended with 10 men after Amadou Haidara was sent off.
It was a third stalemate in as many matches for the Eagles, who will remain in Morocco’s largest city for a last-16 tie on Saturday.
Salah rested by Egypt
Earlier, Oswin Appollis converted a late penalty to give South Africa victory against Zimbabwe in Marrakech as Bafana Bafana qualified for the knockout stage.
Rising star Tshepang Moremi gave South Africa an early lead with a deflected effort.
However, falling behind motivated Zimbabwe and they deservedly levelled on 19 minutes thanks to the individual brilliance of Tawanda Maswanhise from Scottish Premiership club Motherwell.
Maswanhise gained possession inside the South African half, dribbled past two opponents and fired the ball wide of goalkeeper Ronwen Williams into the far corner.
South Africa began the second period aggressively and regained the lead on 50 minutes through Burnley striker Lyle Foster, for whom it was a second goal of the tournament.
Zimbabwe brought it back to 2-2 on 73 minutes when Aubrey Modiba conceded an own goal, but Appollis then netted from an 82nd-minute penalty to give Bafana the lead for the third time, which they retained.
“Once again we fell asleep after a good start. We continuously lost possession,” said 73-year-old South Africa coach Hugo Broos.
“Our passing was bad at times and we should have concentrated on retaining possession in the closing minutes instead of seeking a fourth goal. We have to work on controlling games.”
Egypt, who rested stars like captain Salah with first place already assured, topped Group B with seven points after their draw against Angola in Agadir. South Africa finished with six points, Angola two and Zimbabwe one.
The last round of group games continues on Tuesday, with Tanzania playing Tunisia and Nigeria facing Uganda in Group C. Senegal take on Benin and the Democratic Republic of Congo play Botswana in Group D.
