Players.bio is a large online platform sharing the best live coverage of your favourite sports: Football, Golf, Rugby, Cricket, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA, plus the latest sports news, transfers & scores. Exclusive interviews, fresh photos and videos, breaking news. Stay tuned to know everything you wish about your favorite stars 24/7. Check our daily updates and make sure you don't miss anything about celebrities' lives.
MELBOURNE : Iga Swiatek and Alexander Zverev both had to fight their way back from the brink of defeat to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday, a day of close shaves and tight matches at Melbourne Park.
India's rising tennis star Sumit Nagal joked about how he wished he had put more effort into tennis in his childhood rather than spending time playing cricket on the streets. Nagal who has been in love with cricket since his childhood, visited one of the most iconic cricket stadiums in the world - Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The moment he held the bat, Nagal took a trip down memory lane remembering the days he used to play cricket but now wishing that he should have invested those hours in tennis.
After a gritty performance against formidable Australia, India face Uzbekistan in their second group match of the Asian Cup in Al Rayyan on Thursday, aiming to assert themselves better than what they managed in the opening game. India lost to title-contenders Australia 0-2 in the opening match on January 14 after denying the Socceroos any success for 50 minutes. The Australians were at their attacking best but Sunil Chhetri's men managed to avoid a bigger margin of defeat. The defensive compactness, especially in the first half, would be something that the Indians would like to continue against the Uzbeks, who are a bit disappointed after playing out a 0-0 draw against Syria in their opening match.
Chinese tennis prodigy Juncheng Shang blunted Sumit Nagal's challenge at the Australian Open to halt the Indian's impressive run at the first major of the season on Thursday. Coming into the match after an inspiring win over a top-30 player, Nagal began in the same dominating fashion but the 18-year-old wild card entrant got better as the game progressed to walk out a winner with a 2-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 scoreline. The second round contest lasted two hours and 50 minutes and it was clear that Nagal had run out of steam in the fourth set. In contrast, Shang began to serve well from the third set onwards and was at ease in pocketing his service games despite being troubled by high backhand balls in the match.
An inspired spell of bowling from Josh Hazlewood and a brilliant attacking century from Travis Head put Australia in complete control of the first Test against the West Indies in Adelaide on Thursday. After Head smashed 119 from 134 balls to take Australia to 283 and a first-innings lead of 95, Hazlewood took four wickets for just two runs at the start of the West Indies second innings to deal a hammer blow to the visitors. At stumps on the second day, the West Indies were 73-6, still 22 runs from making Australia bat again. Joshua Da Silva was not out 17, with Justin Greaves dismissed off the last ball of the day's play.
Several top seeds were pushed to the brink on day five at the Australian Open as top-ranked woman Iga Switaek admitted she was "at the airport already", while on the men's side, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud were taken to five sets in their second-round matches.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic survived a scare for the second match in succession to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
Sixteen-year-old Mirra Andreeva pulled off the result of the Australian Open so far by beating Ons Jabeur in the second round.