Third seed Maria Sharapova clawed her way into the Australian Open second round Tuesday with a straight-sets win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands as she seeks her first Grand Slam title since the 2012 French Open.
The glamorous Russian, on the comeback trail from a shoulder injury that forced her off the tour in August, battled past the tough American 6-3, 6-4 but her game was marred by too many errors and a serve that failed to fire.
“After (missing) my last Grand Slam in New York I have been so looking forward to this one and I was really happy to start,” she said.
“She was a tough opponent and I’m just happy to get through the first one.
“I have had trouble against her in the past and I knew it would be no different tonight.”
The four-time Grand Slam winner, in a powder blue dress, only made her return at the Brisbane International this month where she lost to bitter rival and eventual champion Serena Williams in the semi-finals.
Sharapova, who was using an ice vest even at 11:00 pm after a scorching hot day, won’t be relishing a possible final meeting with Williams, who has a 15-2 record in their career meetings.
Now working with coach Sven Groeneveld after a failed, one-tournament partnership with Jimmy Connors, Sharapova comfortably held her serve then scored an early break when Mattek-Sands pushed a forehand long.
She was playing aggressive tennis and forcing errors from the American, which cost her dearly with the third seed racing to a 4-0 lead.
But the colourful Mattek-Sands, sporting purple dyed hair and her trademark knee socks, forced her way back into the game when Sharapova drove a forehand long to give her a glimmer of hope.
She held serve to go 4-2 and nearly got back to 4-3 with the Russian struggling with her service game, but failed to make the most of her opportunities with Sharapova closing out an error-riddled set in 48 minutes.
Sharapova got the break she was looking for in the third game of the second set, striking a powerful forehand down the line.
She held for 3-1 but the gritty American bounced back and squared the set at 3-3 as Sharapova’s lacklustre serve again let her down with barely 50 percent of her first serves good.
But the end was in sight with the Russian breaking again in the ninth game and serving out for a match in which she made 28 unforced errors and converted only half of her eight break points.
Mattek-Sands, ranked 41, has now exited in the first round all three times she has played Australian Open.
Sharapova, who won the Australian Open in 2008 and made the final in 2007 and 2012, next plays Italy’s Karin Knapp as she looks to go one better than last year, when lost to Li Na in the semi-finals.
Agnieszka Radwanska made it into the second round as well during Monday’s evening session despite dropping a set to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva. The world No 5 won 6-0, 5-7, 6-2.
No 13 seed American Sloane Stephens topped another Kazakh, Yaroslava Shvedova, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 as well.
Those seeds avoided the fate of No 19 Svetlana Kuznetsova (def. by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina), No 21 Sorana Cirstea (def. by Marina Erakovic) and No 24 Kaia Kanepi (def. by Gabrine Muguruza), who all crashed out on Tuesday.
They joined Petra Kvitova (6), Sara Errani (7) and Roberta Vinci (12) who lost on Monday.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
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