Men's Tennis

Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3, in the Australian Open final, becoming the first repeat men's champion since Novak Djokovic (2020-2021).

The top-ranked Italian has dominated the rest of the tour, particularly on the hard-court surface over the last year, where he has won 53 of his last 56 matches.

For his efforts, Sinner takes home $3,500,000—up more than $1,000,000 from a year ago. Meanwhile, Zverev takes home $1,900,000 after reaching his first Australian Open.

Sinner's win over Zverev was never in question. The World No. 1 was extremely effective from his first serve, where he won 84 percent of points while remaining ultra-consistent with just 27 unforced errors.

Sinner joins 29-year-old Madison Keys, the champion in the women's singles draw, who also takes home $3,500,000, while the runner-up, Aryna Sabalenka, takes home $1,900,000.

Sabalenka entered the final as the overwhelming favorite, looking to become just the seventh woman in the Open Era to win three consecutive Australian Open titles.

However, it was Keys who stunningly triumphed in three sets, winning her maiden Grand Slam—nearly eight years removed from reaching the U.S. Open Final (2017).

Both Sinner and Keys will look to extend their dominant start to the 2025 season when the French Open rolls around on May 25.

Novak Djokovic evidently took exception to the boos he heard after retiring from his semifinal match at the Australian Open.

Djokovic shared a photo of an MRI of his left hamstring taken on Saturday, calling out "sports injury 'experts'" in the process.

The 37-year-old retired after dropping the first set against Alexander Zverev with a hamstring injury suffered in his quarterfinal win over Carlos Alcaraz. He was booed by the crowd in attendance and responded by giving them a sarcastic two thumbs up on his way to the exit.

Zverev even addressed the boos aimed at Djokovic during his on-court interview after the match.

Djokovic didn't provide any additional context about the MRI, but he told reporters after retiring it was a muscle tear:

"I did everything I possibly can to manage the muscle tear that I had. Medications and the strap and the physio work helped to some extent today, [but] towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain. It was getting worse and worse. It was just too much to handle for me at the moment. I knew even if I won the first set it was going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies for another, god knows, two, three, four hours. I don't think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank. Unfortunate ending, but I tried."

This was a contentious Australian Open for Djokovic. He refused to do on-court interviews until he received an apology from Channel 9 News and broadcaster Tony Jones for "insulting and offensive comments" made by Jones on the air.

Jones heckled Djokovic fans during a Jan. 17 broadcast by mocking their chants with "Novak is overrated" and a "has-been."

Both parties issued apologies on Jan. 19, with Jones offering his during a news broadcast by saying he considered it to be an attempt at "humor" that missed the mark:

"Having said that, I was made aware on Saturday morning, from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp, that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments. As such, I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them—this was 48 hours ago—for any disrespect that Novak felt, that I had caused. And as I stand here now, I can only stand by that apology to Novak if he felt any disrespect, which quite clearly he does."

The injury extended Djokovic's streak of consecutive grand slam tournaments without a win to five. It's his longest streak without winning at least one of the four major ATP events since 2016 to '18 (eight).

It's unclear how much time Djokovic might miss as a result of the injury. The French Open is the next grand slam on the calendar, but that doesn't start until May 25.

Novak Djokovic retired due to injury after losing the first set to Alexander Zverev 7-6 (5) in the semifinals of the Australian Open on Friday.

Zverev and Djokovic played an 80-minute set. After Zverev won set point, Djokovic met him at the net and retired.

Djokovic disclosed he was playing through a muscle tear in his left leg.

"I did everything I possibly can to manage the muscle tear that I had," Djokovic told reporters. "Medications and the strap and the physio work helped to some extent today, [but] towards the end of that first set I just started feeling more and more pain. It was getting worse and worse. It was just too much to handle for me at the moment.

"I knew even if I won the first set it was going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies for another, god knows, two, three, four hours. I don't think I had that, unfortunately, today in the tank. Unfortunate ending, but I tried."

Zverev advances to the Australian Open final in the men's draw and will face the winner of Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton.

Djokovic, who is searching for his 25th Grand Slam singles win, had just beaten Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals a few days prior.

During that four-set win, Djokovic had an injury timeout to have his left leg wrapped late in the first set, which he lost 4-6. He stormed back to take the next three sets: 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

After the match, Djokovic had concerns about how he'd fare against Zverev.

"The extra day with no match comes at a good time," Djokovic said, per an ATP Tour article. "I have to assess the situation tomorrow when I wake up. I will try to do as much as I possibly can with my recovery team, with my physio today, tomorrow, the next few days. Probably skip training tomorrow. I'll see if I'm going to train in two days or not.

"I'll take it day by day. Now it's really about recovery. I'm concerned. I am, to be honest, physically. But if I manage somehow to be physically good enough, I think mentally, emotionally I'm as motivated as I can be."

Against Zverev, Djokovic was seen laboring at times during the match. His upper left leg was heavily wrapped.

Djokovic and Zverev played a tremendous first set that ended with the former player unusually dumping an unforced error into the net when he had the court wide open for a winner. It was clear something was off.

Per SportsCenter, this marks the first time Djokovic has retired following the first set of a major match for the first time ever.

Boos reigned down at Rod Laver Arena following the medical retirement. Afterward, Zverev stuck up for his opponent.

With that, Zverev has now moved on in search of his first-ever Grand Slam singles final.

The hypothetical quarterfinals match tennis fans everywhere were dreaming about when the 2025 Australian Open men's singles draw was released came to fruition.

Seventh-seeded Novak Djokovic and third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz will square off in the quarterfinals. The match is slated for Tuesday, although the exact time is yet to be released as the rest of the draw plays its way into the same round.

A dream matchup ahead of the semifinals underscores how strong the men's single field is this year.

After all, the winner could be in line for a semifinal clash against Alexander Zverev for the right to play reigning champion and top seed Jannik Sinner in the final if all the seeds hold. Sinner actually defeated Djokovic in the semifinals of last year's Australian Open.

Yet Djokovic and Alcaraz are the headliners at this point.

The former reached the quarterfinals by defeating Nishesh Basavareddy, Jaime Faria, Tomas Machac and Jiri Lehecka in the first four rounds, while Alcaraz handled Alexander Shevchenko, Yoshihito Nishioka, Nuno Borges and Jack Draper.

The result of those paths will be the latest chapter in the Djokovic and Alcaraz rivalry that took center stage in the tennis world last year.

Djokovic captured gold in the Paris Olympics final over Alcaraz, although the latter won their head-to-head showdown in the Wimbledon final.

Djokovic is still the gold standard of the sport with 24 Grand Slam titles and 10 Australian Open championships, and he enjoys a 4-3 advantage in head-to-head meetings with Alcaraz. He also won the Australian Open in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 and isn't far removed from dominating at this major.

He also won each of their two meetings on hard courts, although Alcaraz pointed out those did not occur at Grand Slams.

"I change my game a little bit," Alcaraz told reporters. It's not going to be the same game style when I'm playing on grass or clay court obviously.

"I think everybody has their weakness. It doesn't matter if we're playing one surface or another, we are going to still have the same weakness. What weakness does Novak has? Just few or none. I know what I have to do on clay, on hard court, on grass. This is going to be the first time that I am playing against him in a Grand Slam on hard court, so let's see."

Unlike in their last two meetings, the winner will still have some work to do to win the tournament. But he will also have plenty of momentum after a marquee victory.

Novak Djokovic boycotted the usual on-court interview after his victory over Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

After the match, Djokovic had a brief message for the fans before walking off the court.

The 10-time tournament champion explained in his press conference his issue was with Channel 9, which broadcasts the Australian Open in its home country. He alluded to network personality Tony Jones and said Jones had "made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me."

Djokovic then responded affirmatively when asked whether his snubbing of the on-court interview will be "an ongoing stance until you get an apology."

Tennis writer Ben Rothenberg provided a transcript of Djokovic's opening statement along with a clip with the offending remarks from Jones.

Jones was standing before a group of Djokovic's fans, who were chanting and presumably speaking in Serbian. He pretended to translate and said they were cheering things like "Novak, he's overrated" and "Novak's a has-been."

Jones issued an apology on Monday morning, via ESPN's Matt Walsh:

The comments were made on the news on Friday night, which I considered to be banter. I considered it to be humor, which is consistent with most things I do.

Having said that, I was made aware on Saturday morning, from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp, that the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments. As such, I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them—this was 48 hours ago—for any disrespect that Novak felt, that I had caused. And as I stand here now, I can only stand by that apology to Novak if he felt any disrespect, which quite clearly he does.

The television presenter also drew the ire of Danielle Collins after he called her a "brat." Collins had goaded the crowd at times during her second-round win over Australian Destanee Aiava.

Djokovic said he "loved her response" to the crowd and he has become a "big fan" of Collins.

When it comes to his own feud with Channel 9, the No. 7 seed told reporters he has made his position clear to Tennis Australian CEO Craig Tiley.

"I just wanted to make sure that he knows where I stand and the reasons behind it," he said. "So I told him: 'If you guys want to fine me for not giving an on-court interview, that's OK.' I'll accept that 'cause I feel like this is something that needs to be done. That's all there is to it."

Djokovic faces off with Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

Netflix dropped a teaser trailer Wednesday showcasing an upcoming documentary series featuring tennis legend Rafael Nadal.

Per Deadline's Peter White, Skydance Sports will produce the docuseries on the recently retired Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam singles champion.

"The series will spotlight Nadal's career as well as his life off-the-court, showcasing never-before-seen material from Nadal's personal archive and featuring full access with the star, his family and his close circle of coaches and advisors including during his comeback to competitive play in the 2024 season after sitting out much of 2023 due to injury," White wrote.

The news comes nine months after Nadal faced off against Carlos Alcaraz in The Netflix Slam, an exhibition match between the two stars that streamed lived in March. The two split a pair of sets (6-3 Nadal, 6-4 Alcaraz) before Alcaraz won a deciding tiebreak, 14-12.

Now Nadal will take centerstage by himself in this docuseries, which highlights a superstaer that won a record 14 French Opens in addition to four U.S. Opens, two Wimbledons and two Australian Opens.

Nadal's 92 career titles also rank fifth in the Open Era, and he won Olympic singles gold in 2008 and doubles gold in 2016.