Archive February 1, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz won a pulsating Australian Open final to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam – ending Novak Djokovic’s latest attempt to land a 25th major title in the process.

Alcaraz, 22, immediately collapsed on the court in celebration after clinching a 2-6 6-2 6-3 7-5 victory in Melbourne.

Despite his disappointment, Djokovic showed his sportsmanship by clambering over the net to warmly hug Alcaraz on creating a slice of history.

However, he knows might not earn any better opportunities to underline his place as the greatest player of all-time.

Afterwards, the 10-time champion placed doubt on whether he would be on court in Melbourne again.

“I didn’t think I’d be standing at the closing ceremony of a Grand Slam once again,” Djokovic told the 15,000 crowd.

“Who knows what happens tomorrow, never mind the next six or 12 months, but it has been a great ride.”

Spanish world number one Alcaraz struggled in the opening exchanges as 38-year-old Djokovic used his nous to dominate his younger opponent.

But Alcaraz found more rhythm from the baseline and outlasted the Serb fourth seed to claim his seventh major title.

Alcaraz’s victory means Djokovic’s wait to claim a standalone record 25th major continues.

Djokovic has been tied with Australia’s Margaret Court – who was watching on Rod Laver Arena – since winning the 2023 US Open.

Over the past two seasons, Alcaraz and Italy’s Jannik Sinner have emerged as the dominant forces in the men’s game.

Alcaraz’s maiden win on the Melbourne hard courts means the pair have lifted the past nine major trophies between them.

Djokovic produced a superhuman effort to beat second seed Sinner in Friday’s semi-finals, but beating both of his younger opponents back-to-back always looked likely to be a task too tough.

“The work you have been doing is historic – legendary,” Djokovic told Alcaraz in his runners-up speech.

History was on the line for both superstars in a highly anticipated final which ensured a rather underwhelming Australian Open ended with a flourish.

Following their gruelling semi-final victories on Friday, neither player trained on Saturday and left everyone wondering how they would pull up on Sunday.

Djokovic pointed out Alcaraz had the advantage in that regard – given he was 16 years younger – but the veteran made a mockery of the age difference in a blistering start.

Moving sharply, Djokovic used his superior tennis IQ to carefully construct points in a way which Alcaraz could not compute – similar to how he discombobulated the Spaniard in last year’s quarter-finals.

A locked-in Djokovic comfortably held serve thanks to the precision of his opening shot and accuracy of his groundstrokes, laying the platform to break Alcaraz for 3-1.

Continuing to take angles and space away from his opponent, Djokovic comfortably consolidated for a 4-1 lead and broke again to seal the opening set.

How long Djokovic could maintain this level was the next question.

A lot of emphasis had been placed on Djokovic’s good fortune over the fortnight, but his luck ran out in the third game of the second set when a remarkable net cord helped Alcaraz break.

The manner was brutal and, coming at 1-1 15-15, the timing was crucial in shifting momentum.

From that point, Djokovic’s serve lacked the same precision and his groundstrokes lacked the same punch.

Alcaraz won four of the next five games to level the match, keeping his foot on the pedal to break twice in the third set and lead.

Djokovic, though, is not a man to be beaten easily.

As he has shown countless times in his illustrious career, the veteran continued to believe he could defy the odds and turn the match around.

Djokovic fought off six break points in the second game of the fourth set, then created a chance of his own on Alcaraz’s serve in the ninth game.

Alcaraz kept his cool in a baseline duel with Djokovic finally pushing a forehand long – and it proved vital.

The exchanges continued to be intense as the set entered the business end, but Djokovic blinked first.

If a prop scoring a wonder try is enough to draw questions from the front row union, then doing so in a pair of coloured boots is surely cause for disbarment.

Ulster’s Angus Bell, however, was keen to stress that neither his double sidestep nor fashion statement were pre-planned.

With his province seven points to the good against Cardiff on Saturday night, the Wallaby loose-head collected the ball on the edge of the 22 and beat two players with a burst of pace and strength.

Cam Winnett stood in his way, but the prop sat the Cardiff full-back down with a sidestep that any world-class wing would be proud of, and another followed to skip past wing Ioan Lloyd as he raced over to score.

It was an astonishing try from any player, never mind a front row forward, albeit an Australian international who has a history of bringing a bit of ‘x-factor’.

There was more drama to come as Ulster held the Welsh side off in the 21-14 win, but Bell’s try was the undoubted highlight.

It was so good, in fact, Ulster back row Marcus Rea stood with his hands on his head after witnessing the run, while Bell was mobbed by his team-mates.

“I was just lucky. When your boots break in the warm-up you have to make do,” a modest Bell said on Premier Sports.

“I’ve got different colours on at the moment so I have to fix that. It wasn’t planned.

Ulster’s team wasn’t quite as makeshift as Bell’s boots, but the province’s strength in depth was handed a proper test against a side which started the night above them in the table.

Missing eight Ireland internationals for the Six Nations – a sign itself of the progress the province has made this season when compared to three players last year – Ulster had a blend of experience and youth in Belfast.

It was no coincidence that when Bell and captain Iain Henderson were withdrawn just shy of the hour-mark, Cardiff, who were also missing key players, came back into the game.

But Richie Murphy’s side, who had throw away leads of 19 and 14 points in their past two games against Cardiff, were determined for a different outcome.

Bell will get the headlines after his try, but fellow prop Scott Wilson – in a time where Ireland are struggling in the front row – also touched down and stopped a near-certain score at the other end.

In the United Rugby Championship last season, Ulster won seven out of their 18 matches.

Saturday’s win ensured they have matched that tally in just 10 URC matches of the current campaign, and the feel-good factor has returned to Belfast with the side just eight points behind leaders Glasgow Warriors with a game in hand.

But Murphy isn’t getting carried away. Ulster have vastly improved but are not the finished article, which was highlighted by an unsuccessful last-gasp attempt to secure the bonus-point try.

“I think we’re getting there. Seven out of 10 wins is a bit like our scorecard as well, which I’d give as a seven out of 10,” he told Premier Sports.

After the disaster of last season, when Ulster missed out on the play-offs and Champions Cup rugby, a lot has been made of the fresh approach in the new campaign with the appointments of Mark Sexton and Willie Faloon to the coaching team, alongside Murphy, Jimmy Duffy and Dan Soper.

That could be seen in the universal positivity when Murphy and his coaching team were tied down for another two years.

While coaching has played a big role, with more attacking freedom blended with a newfound defensive resolve, Murphy says the culture within the group has also helped with the turnaround.

“The lads are committed to try and drive certain standards within our team, and they are doing that on a daily basis,” he said in his post-match media conference.

“Culture is really important in relation to getting your work done during the week and making sure that the guys are in an environment where one, they’re challenged, and two, they’re learning.

“Ultimately, we have a high-performance model of trying to get better every day, and that is what we try and drive.

After a run of 10 games in 10 weeks, Ulster have to wait until the end of February for their next outing as the Six Nations shifts into focus.

If Ulster can go deep in Europe and maintain their play-off charge in the URC, there could be as many as 14 games in the final stretch of the campaign.

“Every day that we’re training, we’re going out there with the belief that we’re going to be a top four team,” said player of the match Matthew Dalton.

“Parts of this season we’ve proven that we can be, and we are now.

“But I think there’s a lot to work on as well. There’s so much more that we can do and so much more that we can offer to be even better.

Scotland 178-8 (20 overs): Carter 52, Lister 43, Chatterji 39; Norris 3-33

USA 137 (19 overs): Claridge 35; Chatterji 2-11, Abel 2-16, K Bryce 2-29

Scotland win by 41 runs

Scotland booked their place at the Women’s T20 World Cup with a comfortable 41-run win over the United States in the final Super Six qualification game in Nepal.

With the top four going through, the Scots finished third to join Bangladesh, Ireland and the Netherlands at the tournament which is being held in England from 12 June.

Opener Darcey Carter hit 52 as Scotland posted a 178-8 total, with Ailsa Lister adding 43 and Priyanaz Chatterji making 39.

Tara Norris took three wickets for the US, including a rare golden duck for Kathyrn Bryce.

The Scottish skipper shook off the disappointment by removing opener Disha Dhingra in the first over of the Americans’ reply.

History is guaranteed at Emirates Stadium on Sunday as Arsenal host Brazil’s Corinthians in the first Women’s Champions Cup final.

The winners of the new Fifa tournament, which pits continental champions against one another, will claim the biggest single cash prize in women’s club football.

Whoever gets their hands on the trophy will walk away with $2.3m (£1.7m) while the runners-up will gain $1m (£735,000).

Arsenal go into the final as favourites, having booked their place in the title clash by dismantling African champions AS FAR Rabat of Morocco 6-0 on Wednesday.

Brazilian powerhouse Corinthians, meanwhile, progressed in contrasting fashion, shocking North American champions Gotham FC 1-0 in the other semi-final.

For Arsenal, the Champions Cup is a welcome distraction from their Women’s Super League (WSL) campaign that has failed to live up to expectations.

Having secured their first Champions League title in 18 years by stunning European giants Barcelona last May, the Gunners have failed to capitalise on a rare chance as serial winners Chelsea have faltered this season.

Having been knocked out in the League Cup semi-finals by Manchester United, in the Women’s Super League they find themselves 10 points adrift of leaders Manchester City, though they moved one point behind Chelsea with a 2-0 win over the defending champions last weekend.

This game offers Arsenal a chance to add an international trophy to their cabinet and boost their morale for the second half of the season – not to mention the massive financial incentive.

Renee Slegers had to manage her squad carefully during the semi-final victory over AS FAR, which came four days after their triumph at Stamford Bridge.

Key stars like Alessia Russo, Emily Fox and Leah Williamson were left out of the starting line-up against the Moroccan side but Arsenal hardly broke a sweat to ease into the decider.

Managing minutes for her stars will be crucial for Slegers again on Sunday, with a massive league meeting against Andree Jeglertz’s City looming next week.

Arsenal may be favourites on home turf, but they face a Corinthians side who know exactly how to win trophies.

Known as Timao, which translates to ‘the Great Team’, they are the undisputed queens of Brazilian football and won the league title seven times, including six in a row between 2020 and 2025.

Their dominance extends across the continent, having qualified for the Champions Cup as the reigning champions of the Copa Libertadores – a tournament they have won five times in the past seven seasons.

Corinthians have already proven their quality by knocking out a star-studded Gotham side who boasted the likes of America legend Rose Lavelle and England defender Jess Carter in their starting line-up.

The winner came from their 40-year-old captain Gabi Zanotti, who beat former Chelsea goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger in the 83rd minute at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium.

For a South American club, the economics that Champions Cup offers would be transformative.

However, question marks remain over the tournament’s timing with concerns about fixture congestion and player welfare.