Sabalenka v Kyrgios: The key questions in 'Battle of the Sexes'
BBC Sport looks at the key questions going into the divisive Battle of the Sexes-style match between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios on Sunday.
BBC Sport looks at the key questions going into the divisive Battle of the Sexes-style match between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios on Sunday.
When Aryna Sabalenka faces Nick Kyrgios, it will be under the banner of the Battle of the Sexes – but the stakes will not be as high as those that faced Billie Jean King 52 years ago.
Jack Draper announced on social media Friday that he will not compete in Australia to begin his 2026 season because of the arm injury he has been recovering from.
“Unfortunately me and my team have decided not to head out to Australia this year. It’s a really, really tough decision, obviously Australia being a Grand Slam, it’s one of the biggest tournaments in our sport,” Draper said in a video he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “However, I’ve had this injury for a long time. I’m at the very, very end stages of the process and to step back on court into best-of-five-set tennis so soon just doesn’t seem like the smart decision right now for me and my tennis.
“I’ve obviously been through a fair amount of setbacks so far. But by far and away this one has been the most difficult, most complex one that I’ve had.”
— jack draper (@jackdraper0) December 26, 2025
The British lefty has played one tour-level match since Wimbledon, a first-round win at the US Open. Draper then withdrew from the season’s final major and did not compete again in 2025.
The 24-year-old has been battling an arm injury. The No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings tallied a 30-9 record in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells.
“It always seems to manage to make me more resilient, to make me hungrier, to make me just want to become the player I want to become even more,” Draper said of his injury. “I’m looking forward to getting back out there in 2026 and competing.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]British number one Jack Draper will not play in next month’s Australian Open because of an ongoing arm injury.
A host of top stars from both the ATP Tour and the Hologic WTA Tour are set compete at the 2026 United Cup in Perth and Sydney, Australia.
Team United States, led by World No. 3 Coco Gauff and World No. 6 Taylor Fritz, will defend its crown at the mixed teams competition in 2025. Germany, champion in 2024, boasts World No. 3 Alexander Zverev and debutant Eva Lys.
Other marquee players competing include Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz for Poland, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari for Greece, Jasmine Paolini and Flavio Cobolli for Italy, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Victoria Mboko for Canada, Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper for Great Britain, Naomi Osaka (Japan), Alex de Minaur (Australia) and Casper Ruud (Norway).
The 2026 United Cup will be held from 2 January through 11 January. The outdoor hard-court event, established in 2023, will take place at RAC Arena in Perth and the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre inside Ken Rosewall Arena. The tournament director is Stephen Farrow.
Eighteen countries were placed into six groups of three. The group stage will consist of round-robin showdowns, in which each country will play the two other countries in their group. Each tie will consist of one ATP singles match, one WTA singles match and one mixed doubles match. The top team from each group will advance to the quarter-finals, with one quarter-final spot also awarded to the best runner-up country in both Perth and Sydney.
The groups have been announced for the 2026 United Cup:
PERTH
Group A
United States
Spain
Argentina
Group C
Italy
France
Switzerland
Group E
Great Britain
Greece
Japan
SYDNEY
Group B
Canada
Belgium
China
Group D
Australia
Czechia
Norway
Group F
Germany
Poland
Netherlands
The fourth edition of the United Cup will be played in Perth (from 2 January 2026) and Sydney (from 3 January). The host cities will each stage group play and quarter-finals, with four countries advancing to the semi-finals (10 January 2026) and final (11 January) in Sydney.
The full schedule can be found here.
The 2026 United Cup will offer a minimum of US $11,806,190 in total prize money and participation fees, with a minimum of US $5,903,345 each for ATP and WTA players, respectively. The total prize money is split into three components: participation fee, per team wins and prize money.
A full list of broadcasters for the 2026 United Cup can be found here.
Hashtag: #UnitedCup
Facebook: United Cup
TikTok: @unitedcuptennis
YouTube: United Cup
X: @unitedcuptennis
Instagram: @unitedcuptennis
United States won the third edition of the United Cup in 2025 by defeating Poland in the championship match in Sydney (Read more). Fritz, Gauff, Denis Kudla, Danielle Collins, Robert Galloway and Desirae Krawczyk competed for United States across the event.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]While 2025 marked Learner Tien’s breakthrough season on the ATP Tour, the blueprint was drawn a year earlier, when the lefty proved himself at ITF World Tennis Tour events and ATP Challenger tournaments.
Far from the bright lights of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which Tien won on Sunday to join an elite list of former champions including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the American was building his foundation.
Flashback to early 2024, and Tien endured a three-month layoff due to a seventh-rib injury that made moving his dominant arm difficult. Tien’s rapid rise ever since has rarely slowed. A part of why Tien stands where he does today is the ATP Challenger circuit, long regarded as the launchpad for rising stars. Even the sport’s greatest names, including the ‘Big Three’ had to pass through Challenger events.
Tien enjoyed a decorated junior career, twice winning the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship (2022, 2023). He also twice reached the final of junior Slam tournaments. Tien announced his pro arrival in 2024, notably building a 28-match winning streak that included four ITF World Tennis Tour title runs and his first Challenger trophy.
“Playing tournaments like that really sets you up to take that next step,” Tien said Sunday after winning in Jeddah. “I think the amount of matches you have to play, especially if you win them — I think the confidence it gives you, really boosts you to reach the next level.”
Tien’s opponent in his maiden Challenger final appearance in Bloomfield Hills was countryman Nishesh Basavareddy, who he rematched in the Jeddah semi-finals last week. That Challenger meeting between Tien and Basavareddy was just the third final in Challenger history to feature two American teenagers. Tien, then 18 years old, needed a deciding set in all five of his matches that week.
“I was just really happy and relieved to get through all of them,” Tien said at the time. “I’m really happy to get my first Challenger. That was one of the goals that I wanted to cross off my list this year.”
Tien accomplished his goal of claiming one Challenger title and then some. He finished the 2024 season with a hat-trick of Challenger trophies, also triumphing in Las Vegas and Fairfield. He tallied a standout 35-9 match record at that level. In Las Vegas, Tien raced past former No. 17 Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-1 in a 39-minute final, the shortest championship match in Challenger history.
<img alt=”Learner Tien in action at the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Fairfield, California.” style=”width:100%” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/10/14/13/54/tien-fairfieldch-2024.jpg” />
Learner Tien in action at the 2024 Fairfield Challenger. Credit: Taube – Grossman Pro Tennis Tournament
The California native joined Andy Roddick, Sam Querrey and Taylor Fritz on an exclusive list of Americans to win three Challenger titles before their 19th birthday.
“If you would have told me six months ago that this is how my year would’ve looked, I probably would’ve been a bit skeptical,” Tien told commentator Mike Cation after winning the Fairfield Challenger.
Before Tien went on his stretch of 28 consecutive match wins, he posted a graphic on Instagram of two pickaxe-wielding diggers in a dirt tunnel. One gave up just short of the prize; the other kept swinging, inching closer to the diamonds he hoped — but didn’t know — lay on the other side.
That relentless mindset, evident in Tien’s steady rise, has translated into tangible results. The 20-year-old won his first tour-level title in November in Metz and finished the season at a career-high No. 28 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Upon returning to the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, where last year he was a finalist, Tien went one step further to claim a $502,250 champion’s payout.
It is safe to say Tien’s ‘up and coming’ days have passed. Tien has arrived at the top of the sport. The intimate Challenger venues and the chase for a breakthrough are now part of his past. Tien successfully used those experiences to spring himself to where he is today.
“I think Challengers are great,” Tien said. “I think it prepares you to play a lot of matches in a row. Matches there aren’t easy.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
From pressure-packed moments under the spotlight to dominant performances across an entire tournament, the ATP Perfect Serve of the Year by Stella Artois celebrates standout serves from the 2025 season. Now, it is your turn to decide the winner.
The list features Carlos Alcaraz’s booming deliveries in Cincinnati, Taylor Fritz’s fiery streak in Stuttgart and Jannik Sinner’s near-perfect performance at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Watch the video below and then visit our hub for the ATP Perfect Serve by Stella Artois to cast your vote and learn more.
Alcaraz seized his moment in a Cincinnati Open semi-final against rival Alexander Zverev, ripping off three straight aces in the early stages of battle.
Fritz went unbroken across 43 service games at the ATP 250 in Stuttgart, where he also crushed 45 aces and only faced four break points to remain untouchable all week.
Sinner stood firm against the best-of-the-best players en route to a title run at the prestigious NItto ATP Finals. The Italian saved 14 of the 15 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to successfully defend his Turin crown.
The Stella Artois ATP Perfect Serve award gives fans the chance to vote for their favourite magical moments from the line. Stella Artois, one of the world’s leading premium beer brands, is a Gold Partner and Official Beer of the ATP Tour through 2028.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Jenson Brooksby could not hold his phone for several months in 2023. His wrists were immobilised, each in a cast for eight weeks, the aftermath of two surgeries performed just two months apart.
It was only fitting that this April, two years after surgery, Brooksby secured his maiden ATP Tour title in poetic fashion, having saved match point in three matches en route to the Houston trophy. Those hard-fought matches were demonstrations of his dedication throughout his comeback… and it was just one chapter.
After starting this season unranked, the 25-year-old climbed as high as No. 51 in the PIF ATP Rankings, not far off his career-high No. 33, which he reached in 2022.
“I haven’t seen anyone who has needed surgeries on both wrists and been able to do that, so I’m very proud of myself,” Brooksby told ATPTour.com in October. “I think it’s a testament of the work I’ve put in and the self-belief I’ve had at the lowest times or at the highest times like right now. I still think I can beat what I’ve done in the past.”
The physical challenges behind Brooksby’s two-year comeback were severe. His right wrist tendon had been between 70 and 80 per cent dislocated, while his left wrist tendon was completely dislocated. Brooksby underwent left wrist surgery in March 2023 and right wrist surgery in May 2023. Brooksby, who competed with heavily taped wrists throughout the 2022 season, tried to avoid the second surgery through rest and rehabilitation, but the discomfort proved impossible to overcome.
Both surgeries were performed by California-based Dr. Steven Shin, who has operated on several sporting icons.
<img alt=”Jenson Brooksby” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2023/05/19/18/31/brooksby-may-2023-surgery.jpg” />
Jenson Brooksby in May 2023. Credit: Jenson Brooksby
Brooksby’s path back to full health was gruelling, testing not only his body, but also his mental fortitude. It was not until 20 months after surgery when he was able to finish a practice match.
“I think having the wrist just getting used to the shock factor of tennis, just with having k-wires [Kirschner wires] in my wrist, [the pain] was really, really high,” Brooksby said. “It took so many months. At times it felt like it was never going to happen, but then you just stay patient with it like you would with anything else and eventually like the rest of the body, it gets used to a certain tolerance or physicality.
“I was in different types of casts for eight weeks on each. For those eight weeks on each wrist, so 16 total weeks, I wasn’t able to do really anything at all. Not even holding the phone or anything. I had to have some serious patience mentally. You couldn’t even use yourself physically, much less a simple thing. I was going a bit crazy.”
The Sacramento native remains one of the Tour’s toughest opponents, boasting brick-wall consistency with razor-sharp court intelligence to outmanoeuvre any rival. His all-court savviness was on full display during his title run at the ATP 250 in Houston, where he began the week as a qualifying wild card at No. 507 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He left with the champion’s trophy, becoming the third-lowest-ranked titlist in ATP Tour history (since 1990).
Brooksby also enjoyed a run to the Eastbourne final and a semi-final showing in Tokyo, further illustrating that he is once again a serious contender. Well inside the Top 100 and approaching a Top 50 return, Brooksby found ways to sharpen his game during his absence.
“I think the biggest reason why I wanted to not just come back, but believed I could be better is because I knew I still had a couple weaker areas where I knew I could get better,” Brooksby said. “I think I was very good from the baseline, but I knew if I could get my serve better than it used to be, play more consistent offensive tennis and add more variety, that I think I could crack the highest levels of tennis.
“I think the biggest thing is I’m looking for more efficient ways to get in the offensive areas of the court and finish off points rather than just staying from the baseline.”
When reflecting on his journey, Brooksby is quick to credit the countless hours of hard work he has poured into his game and the unwavering support of his team. Even amid adversity, he has taken away invaluable lessons.
“I think it just taught a lot of patience in life,” said Brooksby, who in December 2024 publicly revealed he is on the autism spectrum. “To be able to reach your goals takes an extreme amount of patience and consistency and accepting that you’ll be good in some areas and weaker in others and you just have to work with what you’ve got.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Carlos Alcaraz possesses the ultimate nullifier in his arsenal.
The ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF is a dynamic all-around player who puts on a show with his shotmaking. But his secret weapon is his first-serve return.
According to an Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis, Alcaraz has led the Tour in first-serve return points won in three consecutive seasons. In 2025, the Spaniard won 35 per cent of those points, with only Jannik Sinner (33.6%) and Francisco Cerundolo (33.4%) winning more than 33 per cent.
First-Serve Return Points Won (2025)
| Player | First-Serve Return Pts Won |
| 1) Carlos Alcaraz | 35% |
| 2) Jannik Sinner | 33.6% |
| 3) Francisco Cerundolo | 33.4% |
| 4) Damir Dzumhur | 32.8% |
| 5) Daniil Medvedev | 32.7% |
The first serve is a key weapon on the ATP Tour, with many players putting foes on the back foot immediately and earning plenty of free points. Even the Spaniard wins just more than one out of every three first-serve return points. That is why his edge over his rivals in the category is even more important.
The 22-year-old’s 35 per cent win rate against first serves in 2025 was at least 10 per cent better than seven of the other nine players who finished in the year-end Top 10.
2025 Year-End Top 10: First-Serve Return Points Won
| Player | First-Serve Return Pts Won | Stat Rank |
| Carlos Alcaraz (No. 1) | 35% | 1 |
| Jannik Sinner (No. 2) | 33.6% | 2 |
| Alex de Minaur (No. 7) | 32.2% | 7 |
| Novak Djokovic (No. 4) | 31.7% | 8 |
| Jack Draper (No. 10) | 31.2% | 9* |
| Lorenzo Musetti (No. 3) | 30.4% | 13 |
| Alexander Zverev (No. 8) | 30% | 14 |
| Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 5) | 29.2% | 19 |
| Taylor Fritz (No. 6) | 26.3% | 39 |
| Ben Shelton (No. 9) | 26.2% | 41 |
*Draper is not listed on the leaderboard due to not meeting the minimum number of matches played, but would have slotted in at ninth.
Alcaraz’s first-serve return winning percentage was 33.9 per cent better than World No. 9 Ben Shelton’s (26.2%) and 33.2 per cent better than World No. 6 Taylor Fritz’s (26.3%).
This was not a one-year success story, either. Alcaraz has dominated the category for years. Dating back to his first season on the ATP Tour in 2021, the 24-time tour-level titlist has never finished outside of the top five on Tour.
Over the past three years, nobody has been close to Alcaraz. His 35 per cent win rate against first serves since 2023 is more than six per cent better than Alex de Minaur, who ranks second on Tour during the same period (32.9%). Daniil Medvedev (32.9%) is right behind De Minaur.
First-Serve Return Points Won (2023-2025)
| Player | First-Serve Return Pts Won |
| 1) Carlos Alcaraz | 35% |
| 2) Alex de Minaur | 32.9% |
| 3) Daniil Medvedev | 32.9% |
| 4) Jannik Sinner | 32.6% |
| 5) Francisco Cerundolo | 32.6% |
Alcaraz tallied a 71-9 record in 2025 according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. But there was a trend in his losses: below-average first-serve return performance.
The Tour leader in titles (8) and match wins (71) lost just nine times, and in seven of those defeats he won 31 per cent of his first-serve return points or less. In five of those matches, he claimed at most 27 per cent of his first-serve return points.
The only outliers were in the Australian Open quarter-finals against Novak Djokovic and the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals against Jack Draper. Alcaraz won 36 per cent of points against his opponents’ first serve in those clashes.
On the whole, Alcaraz does a better job than anyone else of neutralising his opponents’ first-serve effectiveness. That was one of the reasons why he was able to finish year-end No. 1 for the second time and will be something the Spaniard will rely on moving into 2026 and beyond.
First-Serve Return Points Won (Career)
| Player | First-Serve Return Pts Won |
| 1) Guillermo Coria | 36% |
| 2) Carlos Alcaraz | 34.4% |
| 3) Magnus Gustafsson | 34.2% |
| 4) Rafael Nadal | 34.2% |
| 5) Jordi Arrese | 33.9% |
The story of the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV, told by the cardinals who were there.