The big news: Easy win for Djoko

Defending champion Novak Djokovic began his title defence with a brilliant 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic will either face Denis Istomin or Ivan Dodig in the next round.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion had an easy win in the end. However, the second set went down to the wire with Djokovic winning the tie-break.

“It feels like home. It feels like coming to the place where I have an amazing number of incredible memories. When I saw the draw I thought to myself, this is going to be the only match I could focus on,” said the former World No. 1 after the match.

Football:

  • Ex-Manchester United and Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has retired from coaching after a 26-year long career. Van Gaal last coached United and was sacked in May 2016 after which Jose Mourinho took over. Van Gaal has also coached Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, among other clubs.  
  • Confusion still reigns over the availability of Liverpool’s Joel Matip. However, according to BBC, he could miss six more games. Matip “refused to play” for Cameroon after being named in the preliminary squad for the Africa Cup of Nations. Matip has made 14 appearances for Liverpool this season and last played for Cameroon in September 2015. FIFA says that without his country’s permission, Matip cannot play for Liverpool until the end of the tournament. 
  • Neymar is more valuable than Lionel Messi in Europe says a new study that values both players at more than €100 million. Neymar is worth about €216 million, ahead of team-mate Lionel Messi, who is valued at €149 million.
  • Premier League club Chelsea will not sell striker Diego Costa amid reports of the Spaniard being a target of Chinese clubs. Costa missed Chelsea’s 3-0 win at Leicester with an alleged back injury. Costa has reportedly fallen out with boss Antonio Conte and trained on his own on Monday.
  • West Ham United have rejected a second bid from Marseille for striker Dimitri Payet. The €20 million player was turned down by Hammers chairman David Sullivan. However, manager Slaven Bilic says Payet no longer wants to play for the club.
  • Goals from Lalruatthara and Jayesh Rane gave Aizawl a 2-1 win over Shillong in the I-League on Tuesday. Shillong pulled one back via a penalty from Yuta but it was a little too late.

Cricket:

  • Former England cricketer Monty Panesar has been recruited by Cricket Australia as a spin-bowling consultant for their tour of India next month. Panesar played a crucial role in England’s series win in India in 2012-’13, claiming 17 wickets.
  • Four state units, Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Madhya Pradesh, who are associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, have filed separate pleas in the Supreme Court asking it to recall its order that set a nine-year cap on tenures.
  • India women’s Twenty20 International skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was charged with breach of conduct by Cricket Australia for her actions during the ongoing Big Bash League. Kaur, who plays for Sydney Thunder, was reported by the umpires for breaching the code of conduct’s article that concerns “abuse of cricket equipment of clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a match”, which is a Level 1 offence.       
  • Former South African Test skipper AB de Villiers has made himself unavailable for selection for the upcoming Test series in New Zealand in March. De Villiers squashed rumours saying he is not retiring from Test cricket and indicated that his priority was going to be limited-overs cricket in order to play the 2019 World Cup.

Tennis:

  • Six-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams moved into round two with a straight-set win over Belinda Bencic. Williams won 6-4, 6-3 against her 19-year-old opponent.
  • World No. 9 Rafael Nadal entered round two of the Australia Open with a straight sets win over Germany’s Florian Mayer. Nadal, who lost in the first round last year, beat Mayer 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.