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.

Gary Cahill insisted he was never going to turn down the chance to join Chelsea after finally completing his £7million move from Bolton on this day in 2012.

Cahill put the finishing touches to a reported five-and-a-half-year contract, having spent more than a fortnight wrangling over personal terms that threatened to scupper the deal.

But the England defender suggested he had no intention of walking away from the protracted negotiations between his representatives and Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay.

“Chelsea is a massive club, it is a club that looks to win trophies season in, season out and it is a big opportunity for me to be a part of that,” Cahill told the Blues’ official website at the time.

“Opportunities like this, you can’t turn down.”

Cahill reportedly settled on wages of £80,000-per-week – £20,000 less than the player was said to have demanded during initial talks.

He then travelled to London to undergo a medical and watched his new club’s 1-0 Premier League win over Sunderland.

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas said: “He has good technical abilities, which is important in the way we want to play and to implement our philosophy.

“Competition will be tight for him, but we brought him in to become better as a team.”

There were no shortage of admirers for Cahill, with Arsenal seeing a bid rejected and Tottenham also going close to landing him.

But Chelsea were the only serious January transfer window bidders, with Bolton opting to cash in on a player in the final six months of his contract.

Cahill spent seven-and-a-half years at Stamford Bridge, making almost 300 appearances in all competitions and winning the Premier League twice, the Champions League, two FA Cups, two Europa League titles and the EFL Cup.

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.

Derby head coach Paul Warne reckoned his team cost him “three weeks off his life” after it took a stoppage-time winner to beat Burton.

Warne saw his players throw away a two-goal lead, only for skipper Conor Hourihane to score deep into added time.

Derby looked to be cruising to victory when Tom Barkhuizen scored at the back post in the 29th minute and James Collins headed a second four minutes after the break.

But Burton hit back in the 54th minute through Steve Seddon, who drove a low 20-yard shot past Josh Vickers.

The visitors were level 11 minutes later when Manchester United’s on-loan striker Joe Hugill broke away to score on his Burton debut.

But Albion’s brave resistance was broken in the third minute of stoppage time as Hourihane found the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Warne said:” I thought we were good for 50 minutes and then we had a wobble. We were on a roller-coaster a little bit and that’s what disappointed me a bit about the performance.

“I thought we lost a bit of our character, we’d gone from complete control, although fair play to Burton, they made it really difficult for us.

“So for the captain to score late on was great and if nothing else it was entertaining for the neutrals, but I’ve lost at least three weeks off my life with that!

“Hopefully next time if we go 2-0 up we’ll have a little bit more control and keep trying to do the right things because tonight I felt we got away with it.

“We need to be better, if you want to go up and you want to win you have to be good in all the moments in most of the games.”

Burton manager Martin Paterson said: “The boys are disappointed, so am I. I’ve said many times to them in my first couple of days it’s a results-based business, we are here to win games and get points.

“So when we don’t we have to be disappointed. I’ve told them results are on me, that’s my job, their job is performance, so when you lose like that emotional control is key for me.

“You feel terrible, but the positives you take from it are it’s Derby, it’s a packed house and they are absolutely delighted. You saw how they celebrated a last-minute goal and my group have pushed them to the point where it’s euphoria.

“No disrespect to a really good football club, the manager’s good, the players are good, but there’s a little bit in me that thinks second half probably wasn’t a fair result.”

Algeria endured more Africa Cup of Nations frustration as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Angola in their opening match in Bouake.

Baghdad Bounedjah gave the Algerians the lead, but a second-half equaliser from Mabululu, who converted the rebound after his penalty hit the bar, salvaged a point for Angola in the Group D clash.

The Algerians are looking to avoid a similar fate to 2022 when they entered as defending champions but crashed out in the group stages after failing to win a game.

They made a positive start when Bounedjah latched on to a ball over the top and fired home with a clinical finish to put his side in front after just 18 minutes.

And it could have been even better for the favourites when Bounedjah found the net with a spectacular overhead kick shortly afterwards, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside after a VAR review.

Algeria became increasingly frustrated as they failed to create further chances to trouble the Angolans, who went into the match on the back of four consecutive goalless draws.

Angola drew level in the 65th minute when Mabululu was brought down by Nabil Bentaleb in the box before stepping up to bundle the ball home after his initial spot-kick hit the underside of the bar.

It took a late spell of pressure for the Algerians to really test the Angola rearguard, with Riyad Mahrez in particular proving a constant threat at set-plays.

But, after surviving a succession of corners in injury-time, the 117th-ranked Angolans clung on for a point to continue Algeria’s recent struggles in the competition.

Thomas Frank is increasingly confident of Ivan Toney remaining a Brentford player for the rest of the season as he prepares to make his long-awaited comeback from suspension.

The striker’s eight-month ban for breaching Football Association gambling rules ends on Wednesday, making him available for the team’s next Premier League fixture at home to Nottingham Forest.

Before that he will sit out Brentford’s FA Cup third-round replay against Wolves at Molineux on Tuesday.

There have been reports linking Toney, who made his England debut during a European Championship qualifying win against Ukraine last March, with a move to either Arsenal or Chelsea during the January transfer window.

However, with the Bees struggling in the league having lost their last five games and seven of their last eight, the manager thinks he has seen enough from Toney to indicate he intends to see out the campaign before seeking a move.

“If Ivan can write it his way, no doubt he would like to come back and do fantastically well, and give something back,” said Frank.

“He missed playing football, missed being part of the team. He will be absolutely on it and ready for Saturday.

“It’s a team he’s really enjoying being part of, with some good mates, enjoying their football together, enjoying playing for Brentford and for the fans.

“We’ve done everything we can to help him through this. We’d like to keep him, but we know how football is.

“It’s turning out to be what I would like to say is the right outcome. I’d like to keep him for as long as possible, but that’s not up to me.”

Toney has not played competitively since Brentford’s 1-0 defeat away to Liverpool on May 6, but has been permitted to train with his teammates since September.

Frank is hopeful the striker can recover his sharpness quickly in order to help the team avoid being sucked into a relegation fight during the second half of the season.

They currently enjoy a three-point gap to Luton in 18th place.

“I hope we prepared him that well that he’ll hit the ground running,” he said. “I think it’s important to remember he’s not been injured, so he’s been training and he’s very fit and ready to go.

“I’m not saying that it can’t take a little bit of time to hit the absolute max, but I’m pretty sure he’ll come in on a high level.

“Plus, the excitement and enthusiasm of finally being able to play. I think we all, no matter what low-level sport we have done, finally to do something you’re very excited about, you find some extra energy, you find an extra level and motivation.

“He’s got plenty of motivation in him, no doubt about that.”

Conor Hourihane’s stoppage-time strike earned Derby a dramatic 3-2 victory over Burton at Pride Park.

Derby had thrown away a two-goal lead, with on-loan Manchester United striker Joe Hugill scoring the equaliser on his Burton debut, but were rescued by Hourihane’s late goal.

Derby dominated possession and were twice denied by Burton goalkeeper Max Crocombe in the 22nd minute.

He saved from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and, after Tom Barkhuizen missed the rebound, made another good stop to deny Callum Elder.

But he could do nothing in the 29th minute when Mendez-Laing ran clear on the right and picked out Barkhuizen, who turned the ball in from six yards.

James Collins headed in a second in the 49th minute, but Steve Seddon’s 20-yard drive five minutes later reduced the arrears and Derby were stunned in the 65th minute when Hugill broke away to fire low past Josh Vickers.

But in the third minute of added time Derby’s pressure told when Hourihane found the bottom corner from just outside the box.

England boss Sarina Wiegman was named best women’s coach for the second successive year and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took the men’s prize at The Best FIFA Awards 2023 in London on Monday night.

Dutchwoman Wiegman guided the Lionesses to the World Cup final in Australia, where they were beaten by Spain, having also won Euro 2022 on home soil.

Seven of Wiegman’s England squad made it into the FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World XI – goalkeeper Mary Earps, defenders Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood and Keira Walsh, Alessia Russo, Lauren James and Ella Toone.

As well as picking up the award last year, Wiegman has also taken the honour in 2017 and 2020, when she was in charge of the Netherlands.

Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes finished second in the vote, ahead of Barcelona’s Jonatan Giraldez.

“I feel very privileged and humbled to be here again,” Wiegman said. “I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in our performances with England.

“Most of all thanks to the players who have performed so well on the back of the Euros and the World Cup – lots of things were thrown in front of us and we did really well.”

Manchester United goalkeeper Earps also collected the best women’s goalkeeper award for the second year in a row.

Earps finished her acceptance speech with words of encouragement for others.

“If you are struggling, keep going,” she said. “It is never too late to be who you are – 2023 showed we can change the world if we speak out against injustice, so let’s keep doing that.”

The best women’s player award went to Spain’s World Cup winner Aitana Bonmati ahead of compatriot Jenni Hermoso and Real Madrid’s 18-year-old Colombia forward Linda Caicedo.

Guardiola took the best men’s coach award ahead of Luciano Spalletti, who guided Napoli to the Serie A title, and Simone Inzaghi, whose Inter Milan side Manchester City beat in the Champions League final to complete the treble.

“I want to share this trophy and moment with our owners at Manchester City,” Guardiola said.

“On behalf of my backroom staff and myself, I want to say thank you so much to our players.

“Thanks so much for this incredible journey because they don’t know what it means every morning to go there and live with them, winning or losing it doesn’t matter – living with them has been incredible.”

Argentina’s Lionel Messi, now with Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, won the best men’s player award once again.

He edged out Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, with France forward Kylian Mbappe also in the running.

Six Manchester City players made it into the men’s World XI – defenders John Stones, Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias along with midfielders Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne and Haaland.

England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham was also included in the best men’s team, while City’s Brazil international Ederson took the men’s best goalkeeper award.

:: The winners of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2023:

The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Aitana Bonmati (Spain/Barcelona)
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Lionel Messi (Argentina/Inter Miami)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Mary Earps (England/Manchester United)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper: Ederson (Brazil/Manchester City)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Sarina Wiegman (England women’s national team)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
The FIFA Puskas Award: Guilherme Madruga (Botafogo)
The FIFA Fair Play Award: Brazil men’s national team (anti-racism)
The FIFA Fan Award: Hugo Daniel ‘Toto’ Iniguez & son (Colon de Santa Fe)

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.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe met supporter representatives and local community leaders on Monday as he continues to await Premier League ratification of his investment in Manchester United.

Ratcliffe attended United’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday, his first appearance since the announcement of his prospective £1.3billion deal.

The Ineos chairman, who watched the game alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, has conducted a series of meetings with club staff and associates in recent days.

After meeting with leaders of the independent Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, Ratcliffe spoke with local leaders including senior representatives of Trafford Council, and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

Ratcliffe is reportedly already planning to lead an overhaul of United’s playing squad, starting with four new players to aid Erik ten Hag’s bid to lead a belated charge for Europe.