Bruno Guimaraes - players.bio

Nadal begins Open defense, Swiatek targets maiden Melbourne title

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal returns to the scene of one of his greatest Grand Slam triumphs when the Australian Open begins Monday, with women’s number one Iga Swiatek headlining the night session on the showpiece Rod Laver Arena. A year ago, the 36-year-old Spaniard defied a long injury layoff and a two-set deficit in the final against Daniil Medvedev to win his second Melbourne Park title and a record 21st Grand Slam. The top seed, who extended that record to 22 titles at Roland Garros, faces a testing first-round clash against emerging 21-year-old Briton Jack Draper, who reached the Adelaide semifinals last week.

Barcelona beats Madrid 3-1 to win Super Cup in Saudi Arabia

MADRID: Barcelona won the Spanish Super Cup for the first time since the competition was revamped and moved to Saudi Arabia with a 3-1 victory over Real Madrid on Sunday. Robert Lewandowski, Gavi and Pedri scored a goal each at King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh to give Barcelona its first Super Cup trophy since 2018 — and its 14th overall — and the first since the tournament began being played in a Final Four format in 2020 in a lucrative deal for the Spanish soccer federation. It was also Barcelona’s first title since former player Xavi took over as the team’s coach in 2021, and since Lionel Messi left for Paris Saint-Germain.

LaLiga launches dictionary for football fans

RIYADH: Popular professional sports league LaLiga along with the Spanish Embassy, Instituto Cervantes and Casa Árabe, launched the “Spanish-Arabic football dictionary,” an illustrated book that provides a complete football vocabulary in both the languages to boost content creation and social interaction for fans, as well as fun facts related to the Arabic sporting world.