Jelena Dokic, who spent her whole career navigating painful moments, was abused by her father and suffered from depression and an eating disorder, contemplating suicide at her lowest points.
On two pivotal points in his Indian Wells fourth-round match against Novak Djokovic, at 4-4 in the tie-break and then on match point at 6-6, Draper forced himself inside the baseline and unleashed two backhands, those shots driving him to victory. It would have been understandable for Draper to have played passive tennis in those decisive moments.
Mboko and Andreeva are ranked No 9 and No 10 in the world for a reason. Two fiercely competitive beings determined to win every time on the court, they fought desperately and emerged with an impressive result.
If you're watching the Olympics this year, or have watched in the past, you've probably wondered how the top athletes in the world bolster themselves emotionally for high- stress situations, being exposed and visible to millions of viewers in difficult moments, and how they deal with failure and defeat and become resilient. Dr. Cindra Kamphoff, whose MD-level background in sports psychology, two decades of work with professional and Olympic athletics, and The High Performance Mindset podcast, has developed techniques that are helpful to people inside or outside of the sports arena.
On a Wednesday in the desert last March, Reilly Opelka, the American with a cannon of a serve, was grinding out a tough match against French number one Arthur Rinderknech. Nearby, former US Open men's finalist Kei Nishikori beat Luca Nardi, part of the new wave of Italian talent, while Brazilian phenom Joao Fonseca closed out Pavel Kotov, who reached number 50 in the world in 2024.
In 2017, Bjorn Mannsverk's phone rang. A year before, what was meant to be a special 100th anniversary for Bodo/Glimt ended in heartbreak as the Norwegian club were relegated from the top flight. A fresh approach was needed to get the club back on track. Having been stationed in Bodo before in his role as a fighter pilot with the Royal Norwegian Air Force, Mannsverk was familiar with the town, but not the football club.
Alex de Minaur went into his quarter-final with Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open hopeful that he could make life difficult for the defending champion. Not only did that not happen, but the manner of his one-sided defeat left him wondering if he really had the game to trouble the top players. Fast forward a year and the Australian again finds himself in the last eight, again facing one of the sport's superstars, this time Carlos Alcaraz.
I want to come back to my natural way of playing. That takes time to relearn because that's something that has been coached out of me a little bit. I have had a lot of people telling me what to do, how to play, and it hasn't necessarily fit.
Australian Open organizers instituted their extreme heat policy as temperatures soared at Melbourne Park on Tuesday. It prompted the suspension of play on outer courts and the closure of roofs on the main showcourts. The protocol, introduced in 2019, was developed to minimize the risk of heat-related illness and provide consistency for all players. It considers air temperature, radiant heat, wind speed humidity to assess playing conditions, and sets thresholds for cooling interventions.
Liudmila Samsonova will face Hailey Baptiste in the Abu Dhabi WTA Women's Tennis Open quarterfinals on Thursday, February 5. Samsonova has -325 odds to beat Baptiste (+240). Abu Dhabi WTA Women's Tennis Open Info Tournament: The Abu Dhabi WTA Women's Tennis Open Round: Quarterfinals Date: Thursday, February 5 Venue: Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Court Surface: Hard
