With an old rival at his side, Novak Djokovic resumes his quest for a 25th grand slam title at the Australian Open
CNN
In Novak Djokovic’s quest for his 25th grand slam singles title, he’s recruited long-time rival Andy Murray as a coach for the upcoming Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray faced each other 36 times throughout their tennis careers, mostly in finals and often at the sharp end of grand slam tournaments. But at this year’s Australian Open, their decades-long rivalry has taken an unexpected turn. In his ongoing pursuit of a record-breaking 25th major title, Djokovic has enlisted Murray, recently retired but not prepared to walk away from tennis entirely, as part of his coaching team. It was an arresting sight for tennis fans when the pair first appeared in Melbourne together this week, Djokovic striking balls in practice and Murray looking on with hawk-like attention. But might this unusual player-coach partnership make sense? “It’s in search of perfection that Novak Djokovic, I think, hires Andy Murray,” seven-time grand slam champion and Eurosport expert Mats Wilander told CNN Sport. “We mustn’t think that he’s going to be five percent better because of Andy Murray … We’re talking about one or two points here and there,” Wilander added. “Murray might have some valuable information that Novak hasn’t thought about before, and that could be the difference between him winning his 25th grand slam title or not.” Currently tied with Australian Margaret Court at the top of the all-time list, Djokovic was expected to become tennis’ outright grand slam singles leader with one more title last year. But despite adding an Olympic gold medal to his trophy cabinet, he went the whole season without winning a major crown for the first time since 2017, falling short against Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.
In a season of ticking off accomplishments, the Cornhuskers bull their way into March taking dead-eye aim at the elephant sitting square in the middle of their locker room: Their school is the only one power conference team that has failed to win an NCAA Tournament game.
Team USA avoided a World Baseball Classic disaster on Wednesday when Italy pulverized Mexico, ensuring the Americans advanced to the quarterfinals.
Cinderella is a funny girl when her glass slippers are Nike issued. We are amused by her as a lead-up to the ball, love her if earns a party-crashing admittance and then goes on to trash the place in the first weekend. But not everyone is so eager to hand her one of the coveted 37 extra tickets held in reserve.
New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch is requesting his ownership stake in the team be transferred to his children, according to an internal NFL memo.
Team USA is on the verge of one of the most embarrassing exits in World Baseball Classic history and, at this point, there’s nothing they can do about it.
Rick Barnes has been a head coach for 48 years. Won 857 games, been to the NCAA Tournament 29 times. He is not a man who needs to explain or even create a culture around his team. It sort of just exudes from him at this point.
Seven members of the Iranian women’s soccer team have remained in Australia, while the rest of the squad has now left the country for Iran, a source has told CNN Sports.
After their final defeat in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup on Sunday, supporters of the Iranian women’s football team crowded around their bus shouting at police to “save our girls” as it pulled away.
The Iran women’s national soccer team was forced to salute and sing its anthem on Thursday ahead of its Women’s Asian Cup group stage match against host Australia, sources close to the team tell CNN Sports, just days after the squad refused to do so in its tournament opener.
Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship and won 249 games over 33 seasons at six schools, has died. He was 89.
North Carolina runner Molly Born won the USA Track & Field (USATF) women’s half marathon championship by a slim margin of just over four seconds on Sunday in Atlanta – but the result is only half the story.
It’s now 100 days until the FIFA World Cup is set to begin in North America, and the intensifying war in the Middle East has raised further questions around what is already a controversial tournament.
When American golfer Brooks Koepka left the PGA Tour in 2022, he didn’t seem all that sorry about it.