Jannik Sinner will launch his Australian Open title defence under a stubborn doping cloud but the whiff of scandal may do little to halt the Italian juggernaut. Sinner remains the man to beat at Melbourne Park even as doping officials seek a two-year ban for the world number one for failing two drugs tests last March.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner and 10-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic have landed in opposite sides of the draw for the season’s first major, ruling out a replay of last year’s semifinal encounter.

Australian Open begins January 12 in Melbourne, and the draws for the men’s and women’s singles are intriguing — and have thrown up some blockbuster first-round matches. The Athletic’s tennis writers,

- Italy’s Jannik Sinner returns the ball to Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor during the Davis Cup final tennis match between Netherlands and Italy at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain,

The Australian Open starts Sunday, the first major tournament on the calendar and the unofficial kickoff for the 2025 tennis season. Let the bright sun and electric blue courts of Melbourne transport you to the other side of the world,

Novak Djokovic, the Serbian tennis icon, has made shocking revelations, claiming that he was "poisoned" during his quarantine in Australia in January 2022, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Djokovic was detained after his visa was revoked ahead of the 2022 Australian Open amidst controversy over Australia's COVID-19 entry rules and his unvaccinated status,