Alexei Popyrin has underlined why he is a rising star of Australian tennis after comfortably progressing to the third round at Melbourne Park via a straight-sets win. Popyrin exerted his command over Spain’s Jaume Munar early in their Australian Open encounter on Court Three en route to winning 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in two hours and four minutes. The win …

A clash with Rafael Nadal still looms for Nick Kyrgios, but for the time being he will be satisfied to have safely advanced to the third round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park. Kyrgios was in superb touch at times during his 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 defeat of veteran Frenchman Gilles Simon to edge a step closer to meeting …

As you drive to the city from Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport, the giant billboards on the overpasses leave little doubt about who is the star attraction of this year’s Australian Open. If you have come from overseas and are keen to taste the local “delicacy”, you might find the contents of supermarket shelves confusing: Vegemite has been rebranded as Bartymite. You …

A visibly agitated Rafael Nadal has delivered a backhander to ATP Cup organisers, complaining about scheduling after he suffered a rare singles defeat and Spain just scraped through to play Australia in the semi-finals of the men’s team event. The world number one was not at his best on Friday — and into the early hours of Saturday, losing in …

A misfiring Maria Sharapova has been upset by American qualifier Jennifer Brady in the first round of the Brisbane International. The five-time grand slam champion served 11 double faults to the world No.53’s one to crash out 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in a clash lasting more than two hours. Sharapova may be one of the tournament’s biggest names but had …

Maria Sharapova has pledged at least $25,000 to Australia’s bushfire relief and urged Novak Djokovic to do the same. The five-time grand slam champion becomes the latest of a host of tennis stars to donate to the cause after Australian Nick Kyrgios kick-started a wave of support from the sport earlier this week. Wildfires have raged across Australia for months, killing …

World No.1 tennis player Ashleigh Barty has become the latest Australian sports star to join fundraising efforts for bushfire victims, pledging to donate all of her Brisbane International prize money. After donating more than $30,000 late last year to the RSPCA to help wildlife affected by the national disaster, Barty said she wanted to dig deep again for families who …

Australian number two Nick Kyrgios says it is “tough” to see the impact of widespread bushfires in the country after he raised 4,000 Australian dollars to help tackle the issue. Kyrgios, 24, has pledged to donate 200 dollars for every ace he hits at every tournament he enters in January. He hit 20 aces in his ATP Cup match against Germany’s Jan-Lennard …

Hosts Spain made light work of a youthful Canadian side to win the inaugural edition of the new-look Davis Cup and claim the team trophy for a sixth time on Sunday. Fittingly it was Spain’s talisman Rafael Nadal who sealed the triumph, beating 20-year-old Denis Shapovalov 6-3 7-6 (7) to rack up his eighth victory in eight matches during a …

The Socceroos have held on for a narrow 1-0 win over Jordan in their 2022 World Cup qualifier to record their first away win over the hosts. Adam Taggart’s 13th-minute chipped finish at the King Abdullah II Stadium on Thursday night allowed the Socceroos to stay top of Group B with 12 points after four wins from four starts. “It …