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The Australian state of Victoria will lock down for five days in a bid to curb the spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant, meaning the Australian Open will go without fans during what is usually its busiest few days. Authorities have identified 13 new cases tied to an employee of a quarantine hotel in Melbourne, who tested positive for the so-called United Kingdom coronavirus variant on Monday. Five of those cases were identified in the previous 24 hours, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews

Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Mikael Ymer 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 to march into the fourth round. Stefanos Tsitsipas put friendship aside to crush Mikael Ymer and race into the Australian Open fourth round Saturday, dismantling his sometime hitting partner in straight sets. The pair were born within weeks of each other and often pitted together as juniors, but Greek fifth seed Tsitsipas swatted the Swede 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 at John Cain Arena. He will now play either big-hitting ninth seed Matteo Berrettini or

Novak Djokovic battled through injury to survive a comeback by Taylor Fritz in the third round of the Australian Open, triumphing 7-6 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2.Crowds were told to leave the stadium as the match carried on past midnight and Melbourne's five-day lockdown came into force. While the 33-year-old Djokovic had enough in the tank to defeat world No. 31 Fritz, the world No. 1 admitted after the match that he may not be able to recover from the abdominal injury he sustained

Karolina Pliskova said she never got into her comfort zone on Saturday as the sixth seed exited the Australian Open following a 7-5 7-5 third-round defeat by Czech compatriot Karolina Muchova at Rod Laver Arena. Pliskova's frustrations boiled over in the first set as she received a code violation for racket abuse and was then handed a point deduction for smashing another racket in the tunnel between sets. Pliskova told a news conference she had been a little bit surprised at the second

Liverpool have suffered another injury setback with Brazilian midfielder Fabinho set to miss Saturday's trip to Leicester. Fabinho has largely been used in central defence by Jurgen Klopp this season after Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip suffered season-ending injuries. Klopp does at least now have some centre-back cover with new recruits Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies, signed on transfer deadline day earlier this month, available to make their debuts at the King Power for a crucial game in the battle

Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry is happy to let his game do the talking as it pertains to the MVP race this season. Curry, 32, is in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career, averaging 35.3 points per game and shooting 53-for-101 from beyond the arc over his past eight contests. After scoring 40 points in a 111-105 win over the Orlando Magic on Thursday night, the former two-time MVP spoke with the type of confidence that

Two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso was hospitalized after a road accident while cycling in Switzerland, according to a tweet from the Alpine F1 Team. "Fernando is conscious and well in himself and is awaiting further medical examinations tomorrow morning," the team's tweet read. The 39-year-old is an avid cyclist who is returning to Formula One racing this year. The Spaniard's return comes less than two years after he announced he was leaving the sport. Pre-season testing for the upcoming F1 season

A magnificent contest swung in both teams' favour before Carlo Ancelotti's hosts - showing huge reserves of resolve and fitness - finally struck the decisive blow when substitute Bernard fired home in the seventh minute of extra time. Spurs dominated the early exchanges and were rewarded when Davinson Sanchez headed in from a corner in the third minute before Everton sprang to life with a three-goal burst inside eight minutes before half-time. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who later went off with what looked like a

The head of the Tokyo Olympics has announced his resignation over sexist comments. Yoshiro Mori had said women talk too much during an online meeting of the committee's board of trustees earlier this month, where he also said women are driven by a "strong sense of rivalry". The former Japanese prime minister, 83, had previously refused to step down and later when asked whether he truly believed women talked too much, he replied: "I don't listen to women that much lately, so I

As it turned out for Serena Williams and Aryna Sabalenka on Friday in Melbourne, it's not how you win — it's just that you do. Seven-time AO champion Williams needed to battle past a determined effort from Russian teenager Anastasia Potapova, 7-6(5), 6-2, saving two set points in the first set and overcoming 31 unforced errors to set an enticing fourth-round meeting against the Belarusian No.1. Earlier in the day on Rod Laver Arena, Sabalenka eased to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Williams'

A desperate India have decided to go for the jugular by opting for a spicy turner against a well-prepared England side in the second Test starting Saturday, well aware that it can boomerang and cost them a spot in the World Test Championship final. The honeymoon of the Australian series is over after a sobering 227 run defeat in the first Test which must have shaken a complacent team out of its stupor ahead of three high stake Test matches. But it is

Sofia Kenin's bid to defend her Australian Open title ended in disappointment on Thursday after she was knocked out of the tournament by world No. 65 Kaia Kanepi. The American, who was moved to tears in her post-match press conference, looked way off her best and was beaten in straight sets 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour. The 22-year-old Kenin had admitted to struggling with the pressure that comes with being champion and it showed -- she made 22 unforced errors against

Fullback Pavard scores only goal of final against Mexico's Tigres Benjamin Pavard scored the only goal as Bayern Munich beat Tigres to win the Fifa Club World Cup final in Qatar, their sixth trophy in nine months. Bayern have won the Uefa Super Cup, German Super Cup and are now world champions, to complete a clean sweep of trophies after last season's Treble. Pavard's goal was initially ruled out for a Robert Lewandowski offside but given after VAR consultation. Joshua Kimmich had earlier

Carlos Alcaraz had not even played a Grand Slam match when Toni Nadal, the uncle and longtime coach of Rafael Nadal, anointed him the successor of his illustrious nephew. Brushing aside the hype, the 17-year-old Alcaraz made quick work of his first-round opponent at the Australian Open on Tuesday, defeating Dutch qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 for his maiden win at a major. And with that, the 141st-ranked Alcaraz became the youngest man to win a Grand Slam singles match

Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar is in a race to be fully fit for next week's Champions League clash against Barcelona after the Brazil star was injured in Wednesday's 1-0 French Cup win over Caen. Neymar went down after a robust challenge from Steeve Yago in the 56th minute, holding his left thigh as he left the field to be replaced by Kylian Mbappe. Moise Kean scored the only goal early in the second half before Neymar limped off the pitch raising concerns about participating

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is facing an investigation from the Spanish football federation over comments he made in a recent interview suggesting referees favour Real Madrid because most Spanish referees are Real supporters. Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is facing an investigation from the Spanish football federation over comments he made in a recent interview suggesting referees favour Real Madrid because most Spanish referees are Real supporters. A federation spokeswoman said Barca have been informed of the investigation into Pique, which will determine whether

Despite an injury-prone career, Ishant Sharma managed to become only the third Indian pace bowler after Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan to get to 300 wickets on Monday. Unless his 'sore body' relents, the tall fast bowler is likely to become only the second pace bowler behind Kapil Dev to play 100 Test matches in the second series. The ongoing first Test is the 98th of his career. On Monday, when he reached the milestone by dismissing Daniel Lawrence leg-before wicket with a

Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane insisted that his side would not give up on winning the La Liga title until it becomes mathematically impossible. Zidane was speaking after Real Madrid beat Getafe 2-0 on Tuesday and praised his players for their professional performance in what was a tricky game. Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy scored in the second half to give Real Madrid all three points on the day. Having played a game more than Barcelona, Real Madrid are three points ahead of their bitter rivals, who

Australian Open: Dominic Thiem was in top form against Dominik Koepfer, who self-imploded on a hot day with the Austrian domination on his serve, returning well and owning the baseline. US Open champion Dominic Thiem stepped up a gear Wednesday to race past German Dominik Koepfer for the loss of just six games and into the Australian Open third round. The third seed was in the zone on Margaret Court Arena, cruising through 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 to set up a potential blockbuster clash next with crowd favourite Nick

Australian Open: Simona Halep was rattled by big-hitting Alja Tomljanovic, but won five games in a row to survive a major scare and reach the Australian Open third round. Second seed Simona Halep was rattled by big-hitting Alja Tomljanovic on Wednesday, but won five games in a row to survive a major scare and reach the Australian Open third round. The two-time Grand Slam winner was pushed to the brink by the gutsy Australian in a see-saw second round clash, before finally prevailing 6-4,